ipl-logo

In Cold Blood Rhetorical Analysis

411 Words2 Pages

Truman Capote published the “nonfiction novel” In Cold Blood in order to challenge the formal definition of a nonfiction book while bringing national recognition to the tragedy of the Clutter family. Throughout pages 69-70, Capote intertwines the writing styles of both journalistic and novelistic approaches in order to create a grim tone, which then establishes the unnerving atmosphere of the community following the discovery of the Clutter family murder.
The passage opens with Capote describing how the devastating news was informed throughout the community along with the average recipient’s reaction. Capote begins with a novelist voice, and uses patterns of strong diction in order to begin building the tone. By using “announced,” “distributed,” and “publicized” he was able to emphasize the importance of this event throughout the town, and even farther than Holcomb (69). However, after explaining how widespread the news traveled, Capote then sews in an example quote from a local radio station that was broadcasting about the Clutter family. Utilizing the radio’s quote of “A tragedy, unbelievable and shocking beyond words…” begins to form the new atmosphere of Holcomb (69). By then incorporating a form of …show more content…

While explaining the reactions of the town when hearing about the Clutter incident, Capote describes the average listener's reaction as having “amazement, shading into dismay; a shallow horror sensation that cold springs of personal fear swiftly deepened” (70). Choosing to use the words dismay, horror, and fear sets up the tone of the passage as being grim and menacing. He then switches back to the journalistic approach and uses the a quote from the paranoia of a local cafe owner. Mrs. Hartman says, “‘ If something like this could happen to them, then who’s safe, I ask you?’” (70). Employing the use of this quote allowed Capote to develop the unsettling feeling that many people were feeling throughout the

Show More
Related

  • Distincts In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    218 Words  | 1 Pages

    The work In Cold Blood was written with extremely varying syntax. Sentence length became shorter and more urgent when it coincided with the plot, and the length became long and drawn out during sections with no real action. Truman Capote utilized telegraphic sentences after the murders, many being very similar to the quote above. The author inserts a four word sentence followed by a one word sentence and then a 3 word sentence, emphasizing the fact of the matter, the Clutter family truly was no more; the wholesome ideal family was never coming back and the citizens of Holcomb were coming to that realization. If Capote had written the sentence differently, the reader would not have felt the blunt truth that the townspeople did.

    Read More

  • Capote: The Tragedy Of The Clutter Family

    142 Words  | 1 Pages

    In these paragraphs, Capote describes the haunted by anxiety of Dewey in investigating the murder of the Clutter family, and also his wife, Marie, who still obsessed to the death of her friend, Bonnie Clutter. Capote’s writing skill makes the audiences feel like the entire of Holcomb village still could not get over the tragic of the Clutter family yet. What I found significant and interesting about the last two paragraphs are how Capote end the chapter with Perry and Dick returning to the United States after their trip to Mexico. They continue looking for a new target, to rob and kill with no afraid or worry at all. Dick’s sumptuous smile and Perry sang his favorite song somehow makes the audience wonder.

    Read More

  • Picture A Town, Holcomb In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    254 Words  | 2 Pages

    Picture a town that is run-down. A place where streets are “ unnamed, unshaded, unpaved.” Where is it “ simply an aimless congregation of buildings divided in the center by the main-line trails of the Santa Fe Railroad.” Truman Capote describes this town, Holcomb, in In Cold Blood. Through this journalistic style of writing Capote uses imagery, selection of details, and structure.

    Read More

  • Financial Stability In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    358 Words  | 2 Pages

    The concept of financial stability is central in Truman Capote non fiction text, In Cold Blood and is the chief motive for the murders of the clutter family.     To begin with, Truman Capote empathizes that Mr. Clutter is a hard worker, takes care of his employees, a strict father, and a self-made man (6). By working very hard Mr. Clutter became the second richest person in Holcomb.

    Read More

  • Essay On In Cold Blood By Truman Capote

    489 Words  | 2 Pages

    Truman Capote expressed the events that occurred in real life in a haunting and horrifying way illustrating how scary the world really is. The book discusses two people who were both sane but hated the world with such a fiery passion that they murdered the Clutter family for pure joy. They hated the world so much that they wanted everyone else to hate it as well and consequently committed a crime so evil and full of hate. In the book In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, the author expresses how inhuman some people in the world are and how someone's ego drastically changes the way they view the world.

    Read More

  • The Compare And Contrast The Relationship Between Dick And Perry Capote

    2371 Words  | 10 Pages

    As we know, literature is established by the author’s message. By the need of people to express what they intend to speak to the world, the authors create his or her literary products. Literature is considered as effective tools for people to talk to the world. The author includes his message which he or she intends to deliver to reader in his literary work. The talent of the writer makes literature is more important than just a historical or cultural human works.

    Read More

  • The American Dream In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    1053 Words  | 5 Pages

    In the book, “In Cold Blood,” Truman Capote takes us through the lives of the murderers and the murdered in the 1959 Clutter family homicide, which transpires in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas. The first chapter, “The Last to See Them Alive,” vividly illustrates the daily activities of the Clutter family—Herbert, Bonnie, Nancy, and Kenyon—and the scheming plot of Dick Hickock and Perry Smith up to point where the family is found tied up, and brutally murdered. In doing so, he depicts the picture-perfect town of Holcomb with “blue skies and desert clear air”(3) whose safety is threatened when “four shotgun blasts that, all told, ended six human lives”(5). Through the eyes of a picture perfect family and criminals with social aspirations, Capote describes the American Dream and introduces his audience to the idea that this ideal was no more than an illusion. Herbert Clutter: the character Capote describes as the epitome of the American Dream.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Manipulation In Bowling For Columbine

    857 Words  | 4 Pages

    For example, in Chapter 6 after scenes of devastation following the Columbine disaster Moore cuts straight from the weeping children of Columbine crying over their dead classmates to a triumphant Charlton Heston, lifting a rifle over his head saying "From my cold dead hands!" Michael Moore utilises the editing of Heston’s gun rally to alter the perception of his audience. The use of high modality words add dramatic effect and paints Heston as a ruthless villain. Then, the cross cutting of the Heston’s speech to the father, who has lost his son in the Columbine shootings, protesting creates juxtaposition and by extension, intensifies the gun control debate. “Something is wrong” The anaphora in this quote spoken by the victim’s father evokes pathos and tragedy.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Nancy's Teddy Bear

    1543 Words  | 7 Pages

    Capote’s purpose of this line is to instill fear in the readers and to have them try and grasp the emotions of Susan, who originally discovered the bear. To Susan,

    Read More

  • Sympathy In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    838 Words  | 4 Pages

    Truman Capote’s novel, In Cold Blood epitomizes the shifting sentiments related to the murder of the Clutter family which range from terror, to sorrow, to pride, and all mixed emotions in between. Yet through Capote’s particular descriptions about each character, the connection between their feelings and their actions become further clarified. In effect, the readers experience feelings of sympathy for the victims, their friends and family, the investigators, and even the brutal murders of the innocent family. In order to craft this association, Capote employs a pathos appeal to amplify the audience’s ability to sympathize with each and every character.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Bonnie, Nancy, And Kenyon Clutter In In Cold Blood

    923 Words  | 4 Pages

    Herbert, Bonnie, Nancy, and Kenyon Clutter used to have a nice place in the middle class of America before being murdered in their home. In the book In Cold Blood, Truman depicts the Clutter’s as an ideal and respected family in the rising middle-class of 1950 with descriptions of the family, community, and family hobbie the family; Bonnie(the wife) and four children; Beverly, eveanna, Nancy, and the only son Kenyon. Beverly and Eveanna have grown and moved out of the house in the time that the book takes place, leaving just four people living in the house. From the first part of In Cold Blood, we can conclude that Nancy is an extraverted star in her town who loves socializing and Kenyon was an introverted boy that preferred a more sheltered

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    539 Words  | 3 Pages

    How crazy would it be to interview criminals who murdered 4 people in cold blood? Well that’s exactly what Truman Capote did in this chilling book. In the novel In Cold Blood, Truman Capote used different rhetorical strategies to create sympathy and influence the idea that there are always two sides to every story. Some of the mainly used rhetorical strategies throughout the novel were imagery, diction, tone, and pathos. Furthermore, Capote also illustrated sympathetical emotion towards both types of characters, the protagonists and antagonists.

    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

  • Truman Capote Rhetorical Analysis

    475 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although Truman Capote attempts to illustrate the humanity in the murderers, Mr. Capote’s primary goal is to separate the two murderers’ characters; therefore, he claims, not all murders are equally as guilty. Mr. Capote humanizes the murderers, creating a sympathetic tone towards the killers. When the crime of murdering the Clutter family was committed, it did not just end the lives of the family, rather, Capote says that, “...four shotgun blasts that, all told, ended six human lives” (Capote 5). Through the use of a paradox, Capote demonstrates how the murderers are not shown as monsters, but rather humans.

    Read More

  • Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn Literary Analysis

    1818 Words  | 8 Pages

    Thus, this is the value of Mark Twain 's novel— its ability to spark discomfort in its reader. The

    Read More

More about In Cold Blood Rhetorical Analysis

Open Document