In the excerpt from the opening of In Cold Blood, Truman Capote characterizes the village of Holcomb as a monotonous town described as “out there” on dry, flat Kansas land. Most people would not consider Holcomb as a desirable town to live in, unless they are concerned about their children’s education. Capote portrays Holcomb with the use of imagery, tone and selection of detail. “The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call…
Words 399 - Pages 2
“In Cold Blood” begins with a very unattached description of the town, Holcomb, Kansas. Through structure, diction, and selection of detail. Truman Capote clearly conveys his views on Holcomb being dull and insignificant. Capote organizes his paragraphs and introduces information in a very unique way. The structure used within the novel helps emphasize how insignificant this town is seen. He takes the reader from the outskirts of the town, through the “aimless congregation of buildings” and “streets…
Words 267 - Pages 2
Truman Capote opens the novel In Cold Blood describing the setting in which the story takes place also including different people in the town of Holcomb. As the reader is introduced to new information, questions begin to be asked. Initially, the author states that “dancing has ceased”, which causes the reader to wonder why has the fun/dancing ended in the town of Holcomb? Naturally, the reader wonders if the described event could be the reason “fun was removed” from the town. By comparison to the…
Words 223 - Pages 1
When reading the first chapter in Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood” he uses different rhetorical strategies to characterize his view of Holcomb, Kansas. In the first five paragraphs Truman starts off with descriptions of the landscape; the serenity of the plains is an unlikely setting for a tragedy, which makes it all more disturbing when one does occur. He starts by taking the “long view” of its subjects, outlining them from a distance before eventually zooming in to probe the microscopic details…
Words 496 - Pages 2
The insignificance of Holcomb, Kansas shined through in the opening of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. The desolate environment described before an accurate description of the town emphasizes the triviality of town. The diction exposes the isolative nature and the frivolous uneventfulness of Holcomb. The manner of which the visual and cultural keystones are described throughout the excerpt emphasizes the Southern aspects of Holcomb. Capote’s use of such words and phrases such as “twang,” “ranch-hand…
Words 134 - Pages 1
The book In Cold Blood is about how Truman Capote arrived in Holcomb, Kansas to investigate the murder of the Clutter family. One of the actual facts of the Clutter case was missing from Truman Capote facts, because he didn’t include that there was a photograph of a tire track left behind at the scene of the investigation. Capote gathers the facts and perspectives about the Clutter case and that speaks on human life and death. He also allows himself to be in the book. The meaning that Capote…
Words 152 - Pages 1
In Cold Blood made a large impact on nonfiction as a genre. The novel was written by Truman Capote and published in 1966. It was about the two criminals who murdered four members of a family in Holcomb, Kansas in 1959. Capote used many different writing techniques in the novel to set a unique tone for the readers. Some of his writing styles included imagery, diction, syntax, and characterization. Through Capote uncommon form of creating the novel, it categorized it as creative nonfiction. Creative…
Words 520 - Pages 3
In Truman Capote’s novel In Cold Blood, an astonishing massacre of the respected Clutter family shatters the sinews of trust within the formerly innocent and close-knit village of Holcomb. Capote’s structure accentuates the importance of the Clutter family’s massacre on the community brilliantly transitioning from showing the effects of the murder to telling the effects in his own words. Capote captures the transformation of Holcomb Kansas from a trusting, close-knit village where one can aspire…
Words 651 - Pages 3
Throughout In Cold Blood author Truman Capote entices readers with dark and dismal imagery. For example, Capote opens the story by describing Kansas as, “A lonesome area that other Kansans call ‘out there.’” (14). This first sentence sets the stage of the entire novel, a morbid, tragic novel. Capote uses vivid descriptions to illustrate the town’s despondency. Capote states, “After rain, or when snowfalls thaw, the streets, unnamed, unshaded, unpaved, turn from the thickest dust into the direst mud…
Words 133 - Pages 1
In Truman Capote's non-fiction novel In Cold Blood, is about a quadruple murder of an ideal family in small town Holcomb, Kansas and the aftermath. These murders cause the people of Holcomb to be in disbelief when they hear that the idealistic Clutter family were killed. This once ordinary town that was unfearful of each other now are paranoid of each other. If it could happen to the Clutter family, it could happen to them. To begin with, Capote describes Holcomb as ordinary. He describes the…
Words 169 - Pages 1