ipl-logo

A Rhetorical Analysis Of In Cold Blood

940 Words4 Pages

Truman Capote's introductory passage from In Cold Blood(1966), asserts the town of Holcomb as a run-down town that every reader has seen before. Capote approaches this idea of familiarity and comfort of Holcomb through effective irony, shifts of mood, and blatant foreshadowing; acknowledging that this town isn’t ideal based on appearance but the community is what makes it the town that it is. He works to establish a sense of familiarity in the reader in order to evoke more emotion as they read through and learn what happened to the Clutter family. While Capote wasn’t a member of the Holcomb community through his research he was able to grow close with members of the town and gain the knowledge needed to write this story intended for an audience …show more content…

Capote sets up the reader, putting them at peace to read about the Holcomb residences being “quite content to exist inside ordinary life” (Capote 5). Establishing this feeling of familiarity early on in the book makes the reader feel terrified, not only as they read through the rest of the story but as they finish up the introductory passage. Peace and comfort are soon destroyed when Capote leads to the murder, describing the night of the murder to contain “certain foreign sounds impinged on the normal nightly Holcomb noises---on the keening hysteria of coyotes, the dryscrape of scuttling tumbleweed, the racing, receding wail of locomotive whistles” (Capote 5). That build quickly changes the mood that the reader has from peace to fear. He wants to make the reader feel like this could happen to them in their town and that nobody is safe, not even the ideal American family. This change in emotion was intended by Capote to make In Cold Blood read more like a fictional novel rather than a non-fiction book, creating the new genre Capote was set on …show more content…

Capote hints at the change in this neighborhood through foreshadowing, he also emphasizes it through the repetition of the word strange. This town is losing the normality that it had and it isn’t just neighbors becoming strangers to each other but the town becoming a stranger to its occupants. In a time of need where they should be able to lean on each other to heal they will feel as though they can’t trust anyone, a message that Capote works into every bit of the book because he saw how the town didn’t only lose the Clutter family but they lost the trust they had in their town until the case was

Show More
Related

  • Imagery In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    399 Words  | 2 Pages

    Truman Capote in a passage of "in cold blood" describes the town of Holcomb, Kansas. Capotes overall view of the mediocre town is evedent within the first few paragraphs and extends throughout the paper. The town is unfortunatly small and is looked apone in an almost patronising way. The tone, word choice, sentence structure and imagery are all retoricol divces that Capote adopt to convay his point to his reader. The tone of patronization showes up when He reffers to the little town being "a lonesome area", as if the town was so small that it was like you where by yourself.

    Read More

  • Truman Capote Passages

    148 Words  | 1 Pages

    Truman Capote begins the passage by describing Holcomb, Kansas as a far away town with not much to offer and begins to speak about the bland vibes that the province gives to show what it was like before the Clutter murders impacted the area. Indeed, it is quite accurate that Capote doesn’t think much of the insignificant town as he first begins to describe it. The author recalls Holcomb by saying that there is not much to see.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Devices In Cold Blood

    1136 Words  | 5 Pages

    Fighting fire with fire will never put out the flame of indefinite angst within the people of Holcomb. Moreover, Capote applies efficacious imagery in the form of the crumbling Clutter home to enhance the readers’ visual perception of just how fundamental the matter of dying is and its long-term effects on the environment around it. He accomplishes this by providing detailed, imaginative rhetoric to the general scenery of the house that was “deprived of the late owner’s dedicated attention, the first threads of decay’s cobweb were being spun” (Capote 207). This unsettling image, or rather the putrescence embedded within it, inspires a powerful illusion in

    Read More

  • Quotes From A Separate Peace By Truman Capote

    758 Words  | 4 Pages

    (68) While Perry and Dick were driving all they saw and the only thing that was in their mind for just a few seconds were these natural aspects. These words let the reader clear their mind and bring them back to reality. I think Capote used pure words to show that these people still lived like any other human. These visuals are beautiful glimpses in such a horrific moment. Another reason why I think Capote’s writing was so

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Innocence Quotes

    1299 Words  | 6 Pages

    “Another reason, the simplest, the ugliest, was that this hitherto peaceful congregation of neighbors and old friends had suddenly to endure the unique experience of distrusting each other; understandably, they believed that the murder was among themselves…” (pg. 88) Holcomb have been described as a town out in the countryside in which everyone knew each other. Before the murders of the Clutter family, there was a sense of security and comfort among the people of Holcomb. The significance of this quote shows the people’s loss of innocence and the sheltered lifestyle they once had. After the tragedy, they are forced to realize the true nature of humans.

    Read More

  • In Cold Blood Essay

    1503 Words  | 7 Pages

    In Cold Blood is a nonfiction novel by Truman Capote, first published in 1966. The book’s content narrates the account of the savage killing of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, in 1959. Capote spent six years researching and interviewing the people involved in the case, and the resulting book is a detailed account of the crime and its aftermath, as well as a portrait of the two killers, Richard “Dick” Hickock and Perry Smith. “It seems that for Capote the American society has always been intrigued by the phenomenon of crime, the mystery surrounding it, as well as the suspense connected with crime stories” (Wróbel 8). Capote effectively establishes a sense of intimacy with the characters and their motives through his immersive and descriptive

    Read More

  • Imagery And Symbolism Illustrated In Truman Capote's

    168 Words  | 1 Pages

    Capote starts off the book with images of the landscape in Kansas. He explains how the land is vast, peaceful, and plain. The setting, in a way, describes the people in the small town, as they are all very ordinary yet full of serenity. The calming diction used to describe the location infiltrates the reader’s emotions to be more understanding towards the characters, even Dick and Perry. The author uses a simile to compare the white grains to the Greek temples.

    Read More

  • A Rhetorical Analysis Of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    1254 Words  | 6 Pages

    In Cold Blood Rhetorical Analysis Typically upon hearing about a murder, especially a brutal and unwarranted one, we find ourselves feeling a great sense of disgust for the murderer or murderers who committed these crimes; however, in Truman Capote’s novel In Cold Blood, the lives and experiences of the murderers, particularly Perry Smith, are displayed in a way the makes you feel pity for him as well as the victims. When comparing Capote’s Novel to a typical news article on a similar topic it is easy to see the that Capote's style varies from typical journalism. An article written by Frances Robles and Nikita Stewart titled “Dylan Roof’s Past Reveals Trouble at Home and School,” discusses the childhood and background of Dylann Roof, a twenty-one

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    539 Words  | 3 Pages

    Additionally, Capote expressed the idea of there being two sides to every story for both the protagonist and antagonist. By doing so, he used a unique writing style to help develop the story. In Cold

    Read More

  • Manipulation Of Language In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    1177 Words  | 5 Pages

    Facts and Fiction: A Manipulation of Language in Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood English is a fascinating and riveting language. Subtle nuances and adjustments can easily change the understanding of a literary work—a technique many authors employ in order to evoke a desired response from their readers. This method is used especially in In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, a literary work which details a true event about the murders of four members of the Clutter family in the small community of Holcomb, Kansas, in 1959. Although Capote’s 1966 book was a bestseller nonfiction and had successfully garnered acclaim for its author, there is still a great deal of confusion about the distinction between the factual and fictional aspects in the book.

    Read More

  • Diction And Imagery In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    388 Words  | 2 Pages

    After reading a section of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, I have come to conclusion that Truman thinks very little of the village Holcomb. “A lonesome area that other Kansans call “out there.” Knowing that they consider this town as, “out there” tells me that it appears as a open field with nothing in sight. Truman uses fascinating diction to display the emptiness of this town, “The land is flat, and the views are awesomely extensive…” While reading, Truman can easily capture your attention with his lifelike uses of diction and imagery.

    Read More

  • Use Of Rhetorical Devices In Cold Blood

    661 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gavin Lettau Mrs. Koshollek 01/26/2023 2nd Hour CAPP English In Cold Blood and its use of rhetorical devices Within the small town of Holcomb Kansas, despite its prowess for being a rural midwestern town known for the acres of peaceful fields and grazing animals This however had fallen into disarray upon the discovery of the current mortality of the Clutter family household. Truman Capote exemplifies the tale surrounding the crime, the investigation, and the eventual capture of the two ex-convicts responsible through the usage of mortifying imagery, descriptive environmental imagery, and theatrical foreshadowing to provide the audience a window of perspective into not only those who were responsible but also gives clarity to the victim's actions

    Read More

  • Exploring The Role Of The Narrator In Thornton Wilder's Our Town

    268 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel, Our Town by Thornton Wilder, the store manager, who is the narrator, also plays many other roles within the play. He tells the story of two families who live in the small town of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire. The story is divided into three chapters of their life: Act I, “Daily Life,” Act II, “Love and Marriage,” and Act III, “Death.” The play is kept in a simple scenery to portray that it is very similar to our lives and could happen in anyone else's household. This is the overarching point that Thornton Wilder is expressing throughout the play, even though, it takes place in the 1900’s.

    Read More

  • Language Devices In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    908 Words  | 4 Pages

    Truman Capote uses variety of language devices to vividly develop Perry Smith in his novel In Cold Blood. These language devices include, diction, similes and symbolism. Throughout the novel diction is used to develop Perry Smith’s character, and suggest reasons for the murder. When Smith explains what happened that night at the Clutter’s family home, he tells agent Alvin Dewey about his moment with Nancy Clutter.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Techniques In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    969 Words  | 4 Pages

    The novel, In Cold Blood, is an anomaly in the literary paradigm. The author, Truman Capote, designed his novel in a way that made it unique when compared to others. His fundamental purpose was to present the problem of American violence and the fragility of the American Dream and how it can be so easily shattered. In order to portray his purpose, he used many rhetorical devices including syntax, diction, tone, ethos, logos and pathos. These devices allowed Capote’s novel to be different from the spectrum of other non-fiction novels and to support his purpose.

    Read More

More about A Rhetorical Analysis Of In Cold Blood

Open Document