Blog # 5: Personal Review

           

I personally enjoyed the book In Cold Blood. Truman Capote’s writing style brought the book to life for me. The way the book was structured and the diction he chose created a sense of suspense. Throughout the book, the suspense grew because of the way the author set up the story. Because he kept switching points of views between the family, killers, and townspeople, the story became unpredictable. When the focus was on Perry and Dick, they never spoke about the murder, so the reader never really knew if they were actually the killers. Also, because Capote didn’t fully describe what happened the night of the murder, the reader doesn’t know what happened. When he finally gives the details, the particulars shock and surprise the reader and add drama.  In Cold Blood was beautifully written and skillfully styled. 

Text Connections

Blog # 4: Text Connections

           

The novel, In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote, was written to illustrate the nature of violence in America. The story of the Clutter massacre is just one on a long list of murders in America. From O.J. Simpson to Jeffrey Dahmer to Gary Ridgway, the history of American violence has left a gruesome trail. All of the murderers were psychotic, they all left evidence that they thought they’d covered, and they were all mass murderers. Perry and Dick left shoeprints at the scene of the crime and they left a live witness. O.J. Simpson also left behind footprints and hairs and fibers. Jeffrey Dahmer and Gary Ridgway both left behind DNA evidence. All of the murderers killed more than one person and they all killed in a different way. These wide ranges of homicides are just a few examples of the many that America has seen. Truman Capote incorporates this connection to show the injustices that happen everyday. He describes the murder of the Clutter family in such detail to illustrate the severity of American violence.

Syntax

Blog # 3: Syntax

·      “Ordinarily, Mr. Clutter’s mornings began at six-thirty; clanging milk pails and the whispery chatter of the boys who brought them, two sons of a hired man named Vic Irsik, usually roused him” (7).

·      “I heard him crying. I turned on the radio. Not to hear him. But I could. Crying like a child” (308).

·      “ That squirrel of his, he sure misses Perry. Keeps coming to the cell looking for him. I’ve tried to feed him, but he won’t have anything to do with me. It was just Perry he liked” (308).

Capote uses unusual syntax to illustrate the mindset of the town that was attacked. At the beginning of the book, the sentences are long and structurally complicated, such as the sentence, “Ordinarily, Mr. Clutter’s mornings began at six-thirty; clanging milk pails and the whispery chatter of the boys who brought them, two sons of a hired man named Vic Irsik, usually roused him” (7). This syntax represents the thinking of the people in the town- intelligent, calm, peaceful, rational. When the murder occurred, it sent everybody into a panic. The author changed the sentence structure to mirror this change- from long and complicated, to short and terse. For example, the sentence, “I heard him crying. I turned on the radio. Not to hear him. But I could. Crying like a child,” illustrates the way people feel. Their minds are nervous, so the way they think is almost childlike and immature. The shock of the murder also plays a part in Capote’s syntax. Because the Clutters were so high up on the  “social ladder,” their murder was an eye-opener to America. Truman Capote’s purpose was to present the problem of the nature of American Violence and the problems that arise after it. The town of Holcomb lost its innocence and peace because of it.

Diction

Blog # 2: Diction

·      “Marched them through a wet twilight” (309).

·      “Remember Nancy’s teddy bear staring…” (60).

·      “A hurriedly donned black robe billowed about him…” (307).

·      “A dark two-storied building shaped like a coffin” (309).

·      “Eyes glittering immense in a face now almost phosphorescently pale” (319).

Truman Capote incorporates unusual diction into his writing to convey a haunting tone. For example, he uses the words “wet twilight” to enhance his tone. These words are not commonly placed together and when they are, they create an eerie feeling. The way that the author chooses to use to word “staring” creates a spooky mood. It reconstructs the way people feel when they feel like they are being watched. A “staring teddy bear” is a very unnerving thought. The diction that Capote employs sets the tone for the story as it mirrors the actual story of the two murderers who massacred a whole family. At the trial for Perry and Dick, the judge entered and “a hurriedly donned black robe billowed about him.” The word “donned” was used to further illustrate the feelings in the courtroom. To Perry and Dick, the judge holds a lot of power and, since he is about to condemn them, they feel as if he is a forbidding entity. The “dark two-storied building shaped like a coffin” also describes the way the convicts feel about the courtroom- it is as if they are walking to their deaths, which they are.

Rhetorical Strategies

Blog # 1: Rhetorical Strategies

·      Simile: “Like the waters of the river, like the motorists of the highway, and like the yellow trains streaking down the Santa Fe tracks, drama, in the shape of exceptional happenings, had never stopped there” (5).

·      Foreshadowing: “ Then, touching the brim of his cap, he headed for home and the day’s work, unaware that it would be his last” (13).

·      Asyndeton and Simile: “Scrubbed, combed, as tidy as two dudes setting off on a double date, they went out to the car” (32).

·      Zeugma: “…who lost his money and then his mind” (32).

·      Alliteration: “Get the bubbles out of your blood”(37).

·      Rhetorical question: “ How was it possible that such effort, such plain virtue, could overnight be reduced to this-smoke, thinning as it rose and was received by the big, annihilating sky?” (79).

Truman Capote’s novel, In Cold Blood, is written with a hauntingly grand style. The story in and of itself is evocative, but it is Capote’s style that brings it to life. In Cold Blood is filled with many rhetorical strategies that better illustrate the setting, explain the feelings of the characters, and influence feelings that the reader may have towards the story. For instance, the simile “Like the waters of the river, like the motorists of the highway, and like the yellow trains streaking down the Santa Fe tracks, drama, in the shape of exceptional happenings, had never stopped there,” is used to create an emotional appeal (5). The author employs simile to illustrate the town of Holcomb as quiet, humble, and safe. The emotional appeal lies in the fact that this meek town was attacked, and that, in effect, the event caused the people to become fearful of each other and caused the town to lose its safe qualities. Another way that Capote evokes emotion is in foreshadowing. By stating that Mr. Clutter was going to be murdered while describing how wonderful his life was at the time, the author creates a melancholy mood. The author then switches to the point of view of the murderers. “Scrubbed, combed, as tidy as two dudes setting off on a double date, they went out to the car” to drive to Holcomb and murder the family (32). This particular rhetorical strategy was oddly used. It compares two completely different things-“two dudes setting off on a double date” to two cold-hearted murderers. This comparison shows the psychopathic mindset of the offenders showing how excited they are to perform the task at hand. The zeugma and alliteration strategies were used to create a rhythmic sound and to catch the reader’s attention and draw him or her back into the story. Capote asks, “How was it possible that such effort, such plain virtue, could overnight be reduced to this-smoke, thinning as it rose and was received by the big, annihilating sky?”  to pose the problem of American violence- the main purpose for this book. By asking it in a question, he invites the reader to think for himself about the problem of such brutality. Truman Capote’s writing relies heavily on a multitude of rhetorical strategies and lavish diction. Because of his unique style, his story has a greater impact on its readers.