In part I of In Cold Blood the reader is introduced to Holcomb, Kansas and its residents. Specifically, the reader learns more about the Clutter family. Essentially, this is the novel's exposition- it shares the background information necessary to understand the impact this tragedy has on the community. It is important for the reader to know about the town, its inhabitants, and, of course, the Clutters before any action takes place. How, rhetorically, does Capote go about relaying this information to the reader? Please discuss specific rhetorical strategies that Capote uses and analyze what effect each has on the reader's understanding of and engagement in the novel. For your response, mentioning one specific strategy and providing textual evidence and explanation is adequate. Identify a strategy, give an example of the strategy in use, and explain its effect on the readers and/or the novel's meaning. Remember to use in text citations and to lead into quotations.
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In the beginning, Capote describes the village of Holcomb, Kansas in various ways to give the reader a vivid image. For example, Capote states, "The land is flat, and the views are awesomely extensive; horses, herds of cattle, a white cluster of grain elevators rising as gracefully as Greek temples are visible long before a traveler reaches them" (Capote 3). Truman is wanting the audience to realize that Holcomb is much more than a small town. Although the village may not seem as extensive as a large city, Holcomb has its beauties. Furthermore, Capote is emphasizing how the Far West is as beautiful as the elegant Greek temples, though many would disagree. Truman is nudging at the idea that there is more to the town than just what an outsider would think. Lastly, he is explaining how Holcomb can be seen from far distances just like Greek temples. The effect on the reader is that the audience can visualized the small town of Holcomb for all that it's worth.
ReplyDeleteThough others may advocate tone, similes made Truman Capote's exposition in In Cold Blood flowery and interesting. Capote described the Kansas setting as "a white cluster of grain elevators rising as gracefully as Greek temples" (3). His association of silos with classic Greek pillars is an interesting comparison since most readers consider Kansas primitive as a farming state and Greek classic as a high class culture. Capote's descriptive simile provides new interest to the seemingly boring Kansas town, Holcomb, while providing information such as the existence of numerous silos.
ReplyDeleteI would agree that it is a simile as I also used this example. You could even say it is imagery because it evokes one of the five senses: sight/seeing.
DeleteGoing along with what both Hannah and Lisa, one can sense/feel the amount of imagery being used to evoke the senses. You obviously get the sight sensory, but one can also imagine the wonderful and wishful smells of the open outdoors, the blooming flowers. "He (Kenyon) wanted to tidy up his mother's flower garden, a treasured patch... (Capote 40)." Another sensory being used is touch in this same scene later on in the writing. "(Kenyon) Tossing her (Nancy) the head of a flower, a wilted dahlia, which she jammed in her hair (Capote 41)." Most of us knows how a flower would feel and how they have different scents that tell them apart from the other species. Here Capote is also invoking the thoughts of how care free, easy, and naïve the members of the Clutter's family were before this tragic event happened to them. He wants the reader to feel the horribly wrong thing that Perry and Dick did, and how they truly did it (in cold blood) without remorse.
DeleteThroughout the beginning of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood he uses effective rhetorical strategies to engage the reader, and make his points clear. For example when Capote wrote about Mrs. Clutter he states, "But with Nancy and then Kenyon, the pattern of postnatal depression repeated itself, and following the birth of her son, the mood of misery that descended never altogether lifted; it lingered like a cloud that might rain or might not" (27). His use of this simile helps get the point across to the reader of Mrs. Clutter's constant depression. It provides the reader with something to compare Mrs. Clutter's situation to. Capote really wants his audience to understand that this is not something that comes and goes for her, but something that keeps her in constant agony.
ReplyDeleteCapote remarks, "As usual, the devil was in Kenyon. His shouts kept coming up the stairs: 'Nancy! Telephone!'" (17). Capote uses this metaphor to briefly describe Kenyon as a person without having to give a backstory. It informs readers that Kenyon is more mischievous than his other family members, and is more easy-going than the rest of them. It gives readers a short glimpse into who he is, so that they have enough information to be sympathetic with the character later on in the story.
ReplyDeleteThe devil being compared to Kenyon invokes a feeling of mischief, rule-breaking, and easy- going sense to him that would other wise be unknown.
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ReplyDeleteTruman Capote includes a variety of rhetorical strategies to add diversity to his novel. Throughout the book, he uses these strategies to allow the reader to better understand his point. Capote uses a simile to characterize one of the murderers, Dick's, physical appearance. Capote writes, "It was as though his head had been halved like an apple, then put together a fraction off center" (31). This is a result of a car accident that happened earlier in his life. By giving the reader the opportunity to picture one of the murderers, they are able to get a full understanding of the murderers' experiences and what may have lead to their decision to kill the Clutter family. Dick's physical appearance, described with the use of this simile, is important information. It helps the reader visualize Dick and get a sense of his intensity just by the way he looks.
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ReplyDeleteCapote uses foreshadowing to set the mood from a calm farm house to a place of murder. Capote notes, "Mr. Clutter seldom encountered trespassers on his property; a mile and a half from the highway, and arrived at by obscure roads, it was not a place that strangers came upon by chance" (13). By adding this rhetorical device it makes the reader think that there will soon be a trespasser. The inclusion of foreshadowing sets the reader up for what is to come, but without revealing it which causes mystery. It also gives an image of setting that is useful in the future when understanding how the murderers came upon the house. Capote's use of foreshadowing creates a mysterious mood for the reader. As the reader reads on they expect the trespassers, but they would never expect the horrible things they do.
ReplyDeleteTruman Capote uses a variety of rhetorical strategies in his non-fiction novel, "In Cold Blood". A strategy that Capote uses well would be alliterations. Capote states, "After rain, or when snowfalls thaw, the streets, unnamed, unshaded, unpaved, turn from the thickest dust into the direst mud" (3). The use of the "un" prefix emphasizes a theme Capote is trying to get across. The theme that Holcomb, Kansas is not developed or in any way completed. Also when reading this passage the audience has to slow down to read this, and when reading out loud, you can hear the emphasis by repeating that "un" sound.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the exposition of the novel, Capote uses dialogue to express, not only his thoughts and ideas, but also ideas coming from the people of Holcomb themselves. For example, after the 4-H meeting, Mrs. Ashida says, "'You, you're different. The way you can stand up and talk to hundreds of people. Thousands. And be so easy--convince anybody about whatever. Just nothing scares you'" (36). This dialogue shows how much Mrs. Ashida admires Mr. Clutter. It is clear he is looked up to and seen as a leader throughout the town. People see him as someone they can trust: someone with good character and a strong mind.
ReplyDeleteCapote uses similar dialogue a few lines later to foreshadow Mr. Clutter's murder when Mrs. Ashida claims, "'I can't imagine you afraid. No matter what happened, you'd talk your way out of it'" (36). A sense of dramatic irony is used here. The reader knows that soon, Mr. Clutter will have to face a situation that will strike fear in him, and he won't quite be able to talk his way out of it.
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote uses lots of sensory details to provide readers with a vivid image of what's happening. Capote describes Dick's appearance by saying, "he seemed a flimsy dingy-blond youth of medium height, fleshless and perhaps sunken-chested; disrobing revealed that he was nothing of the sort, but, rather, an athlete constructed on a welterweight scale" (30). This quote is just one of many examples of how Capote is able to paint a picture in the reader's mind. These sensory details let the reader feel like they are in the story, and it makes the story more eventful and exciting.
ReplyDeleteCapote uses many similies throughout part one to illustrate setting, as well as tone and the characters themselves. He writes that Perry had, ¨[...] a voice that, though soft, manufactured each word exactly, ejected it like a smoke ring issuing from a parson´s mouth"(23). This vivid simile creates a very specific picture in the readers mind, as well as help the reader hear his voice. Characterizing his voice this way shows Perry as very calm and collected. Capote uses similies such as these to give the reader a sense of familiarity with the characters. Throughout the text he continues to use very smooth, familiar similies and metaphores to create a personal connection with the reader, and to keep the readers invested in the story.
ReplyDeleteTruman Capote uses many rhetorical strategies in his novel, "In Cold Blood." These devices help trigger emotions from the reader while also allowing the reader to understand the characters and story. A prominent strategy that Capote uses is foreshadowing. For example, Capote says, "Then touching the brim of his cap, he headed for home and the day's work, unaware that it would be his last" (13). Capote is using mystery and a sense of eeriness to reel the reader in. He is using foreshadowing, especially here, to keep the reader wondering when the murders will take place.
ReplyDeleteCapote uses the technique of repetition to thoroughly explain that the town of Holcomb is not the most popular place on the planet. Capote writes, "Until one morning in mid-November of 1959, few Americans-in fact, few Kansans- had ever heard of Holcomb. Like the waters of the river, like the motorists on 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). Capote's use of repetition in this passage helps the reader imagine how the city of Holcomb is set up. The reader imagines a very small town that has very little interaction with outsiders. The inhabitants of the town go about their every day business in a routine and most are considerably happy that no drama is present in the tiny town. It also explains why the murdering of the Clutter's family was such a big ordeal to this small town. The fact that no outsiders or tourists come into the town of Holcomb is why so many were shocked that a murder of a family during a robbery could happen.
ReplyDeleteIn the story Capote uses several types of imagery and rhetorical devices to relay his message. One strategy he uses is rhetorical listing. Throughout the first part of the book Capote is wanting readers to realize how important the CLutters were to the community. When describing Nancy, Capote states, "Where she found the time, and still managed to 'practically run that big house' and be a straight-A student, the president of her class, a leader in the 4-H program and the Young Methodists League, a skilled rider..." (18) Capote wants to show how much of an effect this family had on the community and he does so by rhetorically listing everything they do or are involved with.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly.
DeleteCapote uses listing to explain what Mrs. Clutter had in her room. He is explaining what the contents in her drawer were and he says "The only used drawer in the bureau contained a jar of Vick's Vaporub,Kleenex, an electric heating pad, a number of white nightgowns, and white cotton socks"(29). Capote uses this list to describe how simple and plain Mrs. Clutter was. There is nothing peculiar or alarming about the items in her drawer which shows how average she was. It also shows how there was nothing special about her or her family in general from the first look. Her family and her were just an average family with nothing that would really make them stand out.
ReplyDeleteTruman Capote masterfully uses many various rhetorical devices throughout his novel In Cold Blood. In the exposition of the story, Capote uses foreshadowing to give the reader a preview of the harrowing events that later occur. Teddy, a dog trespassing on the Clutters' property, gets very antsy whenever he sees a gun. Capote writes, "Let him [Teddy] glimpse a gun, as he did now--for the intruders were armed--and his head dropped, his tail turned in" (13). Capote makes it clear that the dog's fear of guns foreshadows the upcoming murder; consequently, the guns symbolize potential weapons that were used in the event.
ReplyDeleteCapote utilizes many rhetorical devices continuously through his novel. Capote focuses in on using imagery in the very beginning of this piece. Throughout the first few pages of this book Capote wants to capture the reader with the pure and humble nature Kansas has to offer by describing, “It was ideal apple-eating weather; the whitest sunlight descended from the purest sky, and an easterly wind rustled, without ripping loose, the last of the leaves on that the Chinese elms” (10). Capote wants the audience to visualize the surroundings the Clutters encountered every day. Many readers are unfamiliar with the setting of Holcomb, Kansas. Not only does Capote want to place an image in the reader's mind, he also wants to emphasize the value landscape and the environment have in Kansas, a classic creation of nature.
ReplyDeleteOn the day before the murder Capote uses imagery to emphasize the pureness of the beautiful Fall day. Capote writes, “It was ideal apple-eating weather; the whitest sunlight descended from the purest sky, and an easterly wind rustled, without ripping loose, the last of the leaves on that the Chinese elms” (10). This delightful description of the beautiful day ahead almost comes off as eerie to the readers since they know what is coming (the murder).Capote seems to be foreshadowing the brutal murder to come. Since the readers know what is going to happen ahead of time, this writing strategy works well when trying to get the audience more emotionally involved/interested.
ReplyDeleteThroughout part 1 of Truman Capote´s ¨In Cold Blood¨ he uses descriptive language to give a good visual of the main characters, especially the Clutters. He talks about the mothers by describing,¨Mrs. Clutter´s heart-shaped, missionary face, her look of helpless, homespun ethereality aroused protective companionship¨(25). Not only does this quote give a detailed picture of the mother to put in the readerś head, but also foreshadows futere events by using words like ¨helpless¨ and ¨protective¨. These words make it sound as though these characteristics of Mrs. Clutter will come into play later in the story. Tying the idea of description as well as forshadowing helps when what is being foreshadowed happens. The reader will remember back to what is being said about Mrs. Clutter´s looks while these helpless characteristics are being exposed.
ReplyDeleteIn True Blood, a nonfiction novel by Truman Capote, is written about the murder of an entire family from Kansas. The story goes into immense detail mostly about the murderers, as opposed to the family that was murdered. In the novel, Capote uses a multitude of rhetorical devices in his writing in just the first part. He uses analogies to compare two things, but his word choice paints a vivid image in the readers mind, in particularly when he describes one of the murderers, Dick, by stating "...his eyes not only situated at uneven levels but of uneven size, the left eye being truly serpentine, with a venomous, sickly-blue squint that although it was involuntary acquired, seemed nevertheless to warn of bitter sediment at the bottom of his nature" (31). This analogy provides a clear visual for the reader, while also comparing Dick's behavior to that of a snake. This sentence alone shows the audience that deep inside, Dick really is a bitter, cold person. Capote uses snake-like words such as "serpentine" and "venomous" to make the audience really picture, and in a sense "feel", the presence of a snake. Just the word venomous has a negative connotation, with an uneasy, sick feeling associated with it. The reader does not get a good impression of Dick, which was absolutely Capote's intent when writing about him.
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ReplyDeleteCapote says " the young mother had experienced an inexplicable despondency-seizures of grief... with Nancy and then Kenyon the pattern of postnatal depression lingered and following the birth of her son , the mood of misery that descended never altogether lifted;it lingered like a cloud that might rain or might not "( Capote 27 ). Clouds are known to block out the sun, which many people think of as a symbol for happiness. Capote saying that the cloud lingers could be him saying that although the cloud may not rain , or that she may not always be in terrible misery that she is never truly happy and her sadness is always there lingering in her mind.
ReplyDeleteIn the exposition of Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood," imagery and sensory details are used to describe the quiet town of Holcomb, Kansas. Before the characters even speak, the readers are able to see, hear, and breathe the air of Holcomb. One specific spot in the text brings the auditory aspect of the town to life: "...Certain foreign sounds impinged on the normal nightly Holcomb noises - on the keening hysteria of coyotes, the dry scrape of scuttling tumbleweed, the racing receding wail of locomotive whistles," (5). Then, after the reader grows attached to the isolated paradise called Holcomb, Capote cleverly leads into foreshadowing the murders of the Clutters. Slipping in those "four shotgun blasts that, all told, ended six human lives" (5) silently shatters the reader's impression of Holcomb as a kind of serene utopia. This beautifully blended sound description and foreshadowing (the first outright foreshadowing in the novel) sets the reader up for the tragic, heart-wrenching journey that they had committed to, perhaps unknowingly, the moment they picked up the text.
ReplyDeleteIn In Cold Blood, Capote uses alliteration as a rhetorical strategy. Capote states, "Regardless of what his private anxieties might be, [Nancy] could not believe that Mr. Clutter was finding secret solace in tobacco" (Capote 22). Capote's use of the alliteration "secret solace" (Capote 22) draws attention to the fact that it was very out of the ordinary. His choice of words in describing Mr. Clutter's wrongdoing stands out against the other text and makes the fact that this was extremely out of the ordinary quite prominent. The situation stands out to both Nancy and the readers because Mr. Clutter never smoked.
ReplyDeleteIn the nonfiction novel, In Cold Blood, Truman Capote uses vivid imagery as a rhetorical strategy to help the readers understand and become more engaged in the novel. Capote details, "Her mouth had been taped with adhesive, but she'd been shot point-blank in the side of the head, and the blast--the impact--had ripped the tape loose. Her eyes were open. Wide open. As though she were still looking at the killer. Because she must have had to watch him do it-aim the gun"(63). Capote's use of vivid imagery helps the readers get a better description in their mind of Mrs. Clutter's death scene. With the descriptive imagery of Mrs. Clutter's dead body, the readers can imagine being at the Clutter house and picturing the killer savagely murdering poor old Mrs. Clutter.
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ReplyDeleteTruman Capote uses many different rhetorical devices throughout his novel, "In Cold Blood". Capote effectively engages the reader by giving the non-fiction text a narrative format; he uses vivid description, and similes to spice up the little town of Holcomb and it's residents. Part I's focus includes the characterization of the Clutter family. Capote describes Nancy, the town sweetheart, as " . . . a pretty girl, lean and boyishly agile, and the prettiest things about her were her short-bobbed, shining chestnut hair (brushed a hundred strokes each morning, the same number at night) and her soap-polished complexion, still faintly freckled and rose-brown from last summer's sun. But it was her eyes, wide apart, darkly translucent, like ale held to the light, that made her immediately likable, that at once announced her lack of suspicion, her considered and yet so easily triggered kindliness" (19). Nancy seems to be athletic as indicated by the words "boyishly agile". In addition to being fit, she is also very hygienic (her soapy complexion and shining hair is proof) and appealing. Capote gives great detail to her eyes (the windows of the soul) in saying that they were translucent, which could mean she was an open book. He also says her eyes are wide apart and compares them to how ale looks when held up to the light. This color would be a light brown--almost golden. Generally, lighter colors are associated with happier, carefree, likable people. Since there was this sincere aura around her, people tended to trust in her. Later Capote mentions that younger girls confided in her, trusting her with their secrets. Capote almost gives the reader the image that Nancy is a harmless doe with her tanned skin, light brown hair and eyes. This is almost a warning for what is to come. Poor, kind, innocent Nancy will be killed. This also alludes to the idea that the killing of the Clutter family was grotesque and horribly unjust.
ReplyDeleteIn the opening portion of the novel, Capote introduces the reader to the Clutters and their lives. He also notes the mannerisms of the family dog, Teddy. Capote includes an idiom in his description of the dog to highlight a particularly interesting characteristic. He writes, "Though he was a good sentry, alert, ever ready to raise Cain, his valor had one flaw: let him glimpse a gun, as he did now-- for the intruders were armed-- and his head dropped, his tail turned in," (13). Teddy is a guardian for the Clutter family who is ready to alert the family of intruders or cause trouble; however, when guns are involved, he seems to cower and back down. This leads the reader to think about how the dog could have impacted the fate of the family if he had not been afraid of guns. If he is ready to “raise Cain” or cause trouble in a threatening situation, could he have warned the Clutters of the attackers or discouraged the attackers?
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ReplyDeleteIn the exposition of “In Cold Blood” Truman Capote vividly describes the Clutters’ social class within the town of Holcomb, Kansas. These vivid descriptions are strengthened by Capote’s strong use of imagery. In one example, Capote describes the Clutters’ beautiful ranch property. Capote describes, “Situated at the end of a long, lanelike driveway shaded by rows of Chinese elms, the handsome white house, standing on an ample lawn of groomed Bermuda grass, impressed Holcomb; it was a place people pointed out” (Capote 9). Capote expresses the magnificence of the Clutters’ ranch home through his use of rhetoric. In the text, Capote uses strong imagery to describe the “lanelike” driveway and “handsome white house." These descriptions show the Clutters’ wealth and why they might be a target for Dick and Perry. This also shows the particular lifestyle of the Clutter family. In addition, Capote mentions that the Clutters’ home “impressed Holcomb” and was a “place people pointed out.” These descriptions show the Clutters’ social class within Holcomb. Furthermore, Capote’s usage of strong imagery allows his readers to be more attentive to detail and increasingly intrigued by the plot.
ReplyDeleteNot only does Truman Capote start his novel, "In Cold Blood" with many rhetorical strategies that aid in painting Holcolmb as your typical, homey, small town, but he also brings into perspective how important the Clutter family is to the town as well. Capote list, "He [Mr. Clutter] was, however, the community's most widely known citizen, prominent both there and in Garden City, the close-by county seat, where he had headed the building committee for the newly completed First Methodist Church, an eight-hundred-thousand-dollar edifice. He was currently chairman of the Kansas Conference of Farm Organization, and his name was everywhere respectfully recognized among Midwestern agriculturist, as it was in certain Washington offices, where he had been a member of the Federal Farm Credit Board during the Eisenhower administration" (6). Capote not only list the many attributes of Mr. Clutter that make him so well loved by Holcomb, but also those of his two children, Nancy and Kenyon. This foreshadows how horrible the toll will be for the rest of the citizens when the tragedy occurs.
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ReplyDeleteThroughout part I of "in Cold Blood," Capote uses many different rhetorical devices to enhance the perspective of the reader. One device is a metaphor, for which he gets a chance to paint the neighbors in a different light. Capote says, "All the neighbors are rattlesnakes. Varmints looking for a chance to slam the door in your face," (69). This quote gives an insight to the city of Holcombe in regards to the people. The Clutters are nice, friendly, and they help out in the community so it is odd that Capote would describe the neighbors as such. This statement is also ironic. It is an example of irony due to the fact that even though the most friendly people have died, the community is described as a venomous and hateful creature. In addition, Capote lets the audience see what the real values are of this community. Instead of crying or anguished feelings, they are busy trying to figure out which neighbor could have done it. Furthermore, this comment sets the tone for the rest of the story. Readers are able to see the lasting effects this tragedy will have on everyone. Not only will there be sympathies, but there will be gossip as well.
ReplyDeleteIt is important for Capote to introduce the Clutters the way he does, because it gives them and the story an increased human element. Capote makes the reader think how similar or different there everyday life is compared to the Clutters. Knowing there impending doom, the reader is forced to feel emotion and empathy for this completely innocent family. Capote use of imagery in describing the farm town of Holcomb, Kansas forces the reading to realize how closely they are related to Holcomb. Capote says, "The land is flat, and the views are awesomely extensive; horses, herds of cattle, a white cluster of grain elevators rising as gracefully as Greek temples are visible long before a traveler reaches them" (Capote 3). Capote makes the reader note that Holcomb is more complex and unique than the audience originally believes.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel "In Cold Blood", Truman Capote uses multiple rhetorical strategies to help inform the reader of the Clutter family and their everyday lives. Capote describes the nightly routines of Nancy Clutter and how she sets out the clothes she intends to wear the next day. Capote uses the strategy of irony by emphasizing her favorite, hand made, red velveteen dress. Capote states, "Tonight, having dried and brushed her hair and bound it in a gauzy bandann, she set out the clothes she intended to wear to church the next morning: nylons, black pumps, a red velvteen dress-her prettiest, which she herself had made. It was to be the dress in which she was to be buried"(56). Capote describes how Nancy has her favorite dress laid out to wear the next day. Ironically the dress Nancy plans to wear is the one she will be laid out for her funeral.
ReplyDeleteIn the widely renouned nonfiction novel ¨In Cold Blood¨ by Truman Capote, we are introduced to the Clutter family, both dead and alive. They live in a very small farm town by the name of Holcomb, Kansas. This place was very beautiful with ¨the whitest sunshine descending from the purest sky, an easterly wind rustling, without ripping loose, the last of the leaves on the Chinese Elms.¨ (Capote 10). The place where they lived was the most well known house in Holcomb. To express this idea, Capote uses imagery to signify the beauty of the small town, and of their home. There is also irony in this small passage, for the most beautiful places can become the most ugly in a matter of minutes. When the Clutter family is brutally murdered in their beautiful home, the most delicate home became the site of a gruesome tragedy.
ReplyDeleteIn Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood", many rhetorical strategies are used. On of the recurring strategies that is prominent throughout the text is Capote's use of foreshadowing. This device is used when Capote relays Mr. Helm's account saying, "'And that,' he said, he was to testify the next day, 'was the last I seen them. Nancy leading old Babe off to the barn. Like I said, nothing was out of the ordinary.'" That last simple phrase leads the reader to think that something "out of the ordinary" is soon to happen. By the clever placement of Mr. Helm's account, the reader now is put on edge thinking, "What will happen to the Clutter family?"
ReplyDeleteCapote uses a multitude of rhetorical strategies to give insight into who the Clutter family was before their horrific murder. Capote introduces several characters, including Nancy, Herb, Perry, and Dick, to give us a look into the lives of the Clutter family and their murderers. He uses a great amount of imagery when describing Perry's numerous tattoos. Capote says, "Blue-furred, orange-eyed, red-fanged, a tiger snarled upon his left biceps; a spitting snake, coiled around a dagger, slithered down his arm; and elsewhere skulls gleamed, a tombstone loomed, and chrysanthemum flourished” (Capote 32). Capote tries to paint a picture of Perry for the reader by using imagery on Perry’s many tattoos. This detailed description gives the reader great insight on the murderers and not just the Clutter family.
ReplyDeleteThroughout In Cold Blood Capote uses many rhetorical devices. One that is used countless times is irony. One of the most well used cases of irony is when Mr. Clutter meets with the representative of New York Life Insurance. Mr. Johnson brings up Mr. Clutter's health while speaking of whom should take over the farm if he were to pass away. ""Why Herb," he said. "You're a young man. Forty-eight. And from the looks of you, from the medical report tells us, we're likely to have you around a couple of weeks more. (Capote 47) This is ironic because Mr. Clutter is of perfect health until he is murdered by Dick and Perry a short time later.
ReplyDeleteCapote uses many rhetorical strategies in order to make the text more interesting and the help the reader to understand what happened and why it was a great loss to the community. The Clutters were very involved in a multitude of things. Nancy, for example, was popular, led a couple clubs, helped out many younger girls in the community, was very well liked, and was girly. Capote shows how she was girly when he explains what her room looks like. He says that it "Was the smallest and most personal room in the house- girlish, and as frothy as a ballerina's tutu" (Capote 55). He uses a simile here to show how girly her room was. He is comparing it to a ballerina's tutu and how beautiful,light, and entertaining it is-much like Nancy herself. This helps in further characterizing Nancy.
ReplyDeleteTruman Capote, the author renowned for his charm in the 20th century, deceives the reader in his non-fiction account of the shocking mid-century murders in Kansas. His work, called In Cold Blood, begins by telling the story of a small town call Holcomb, in western Kansas. With the help of rhetorical devices, he spends a good portion of Part I describing the place as a Midwestern utopia, complete with vivid colors, mesmerizing scents, and unbelievable views. Capote uses striking imagery when he writes, "It was ideal apple-eating weather; the whitest sunlight descended from the purest sky, and an easterly wind rustled. Autumns reward western Kansas for the evils that the remaining seasons impose" (10). This is deceitfully ironic because it is the last time that someone will think of Holcomb as perfect and pure. Less than a day later, four well-known townspeople were murdered, and their blood forever stained the illusory ideology associated with Holcomb.
ReplyDeleteCapote uses the rhetorical device of similes throughout his novel, In Cold Blood. For example, Mrs. Kidwell, a family friend, decides to check on Mrs. Bonnie Clutter after she hears weeping from her room. “When she opened it, the heat gathered inside the room was like a sudden, awful hand over her mouth; she hurried to open a window” (Capote 29). This simile compares the heat of the room to a hand covering up a face, inhibiting proper breathing. This device enhances the dramatic scene by relating the heat of the room to a common feeling such as a hand over ones face, enabling the reader to imagine the scene as if they were there themselves.
ReplyDeleteOf Capote's "In Cold Blood", rhetorical strategies are abundantly present. His work, a true story of the unsettling murder of the Clutter family in the quiet Holcomb, Kansas, provokes the reader to turn page after page. With Capote's use of imagery, the essence of Holcomb and the Clutters is detailed. The family's home, "situated at the end of a long, lanelike driveway shaded by rows of Chinese elms, the handsome white house, standing on an ample lawn of groomed Bermuda grass, impressed Holcomb;it was a place people pointed out," (Capote 9). His description of this pleasant and impressive household mirrors the town's opinion on the family itself; everyone knew Mr. and Mrs. Clutter along with their two children. They were very present in the town's local activities and Clyde was well respected for his morals and his work. Their home in a way reflected their lifestyle; they were living comfortably and in a manner of decency. Mr. Clutters religious ideals were always considered in the choices he made; his house too, a white, well-kept establishment goes to show that he was a man free of impurities. Capote's descriptions of the Clutter household and those who inhabit it clarify for the reader that there are stark differences between the friendly, pure people of Holcomb and the nightmarish events that transcend with the arrival of the two murderers, Dick and Perry.
ReplyDeleteTruman Capote's novel "In Cold Blood" contains many rhetoric strategies in the exposition, however Capote's use of parenthetical asides is one of the most used strategies. The asides in part one sometimes contain extra details in Capote's words or direct quotes and vary in length. One particular instance that Capote uses an aside to add details to better help the readers understanding is when describing Perry Smiths belongings in the hotel he was living in. Capote includes an interaction between Perry and Dick: " Dick's face when he saw those boxes! 'Christ, Perry. You carry that junk everywhere?' And Perry had said, 'What junk? One of them books cost me thirty bucks"(14). This interaction allows reader to better understand the dynamic between Dick and Perry, as well as better understand their individual personalities, which is important to understanding the reason behind the murders.
ReplyDeleteWriter Truman Capote uses rhetorical strategies numerous times in his novel In Cold Blood, a true story of 4 ghastly murders in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas. One of these strategies is the simile which Capote uses when he says, "Like the waters of the river, like the motorists on the highway,, and like the yellow trains streaking down the Santa Fe tracks, drama, in the shape of exceptional happenings, had never stopped there(Holcomb)" (Capote 5). Here Capote not only foreshadows the coming of an huge event, but also gives readers the feeling of the world from Holcomb's view. From the towns view they see the world, rushing by into newer times. Finding batter things and leaving them stuck in the dust. Although this may only be Capote's view on how the people of Holcomb feel. The actual people in Holcomb, Kansas are, as he mentions prior in the story, "born gamblers" (Capote 4) and quite enjoy their small, peaceful farming life watching the world rush on to new things.
ReplyDeleteCapote uses a variety of rhetorical devices in his story, In Cold Blood, to give an interesting twist to the writing. For example, when describing Mrs. Clutter's mental illness, he uses a metaphor. He states, "...everyone knew she had been an on-and-off psychiatric patient the last half-dozen years. Yet even upon this shadowed terrain sunlight had very lately sparkled,"(7). Capote uses the metaphor to give readers a better understanding of Mrs. Clutter's background. Capote is describing to the reader how, lately, Mrs. Clutter had not been doing very well. Using this metaphor gives the reader a very real sense of what is truly happening inside the house. This shows the reader that although the Clutters may have seemed perfect, they were not entirely. This allows the reader to better connect with the Clutters. This also allows the reader to realize what mental state she was in when the Clutters were murdered. This gives readers more insight on the Clutters' family life.
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ReplyDeleteTruman Capote’s novel, In Cold Blood, not only haunts its readers because of the brutal murders that take place within its pages, but also because of Capote’s impeccable use of diction and rhetorical devices. The beginning half of the novel serves as an exposition that provides a variety of devices that range from alliterations to similes to listing, all of which introduce readers to the humble, community based town of Holcomb, Kansas. Given all Capote’s uses of rhetorical devices, one that stands apart from the rest is his use of foreshadowing. Capote uses foreshadowing to give an eerie feeling to what would be considered a quaint town. It also doubles as characterization for the central characters of the novel: the Clutter family, more specifically, Herb Clutter. The first strong use of foreshadowing is when Capote notes, “Mr. Clutter seldom encountered trespassers on his property; a mile and a half from the highway, and arrived at by obscure roads, it was not a place that strangers came by upon chance” (13). This provides insight to where the Clutter’s reside - a rural, “out-of-the-way” town that is built on mutual trust between neighbors. Again, while Mr. Clutter speaks to a friend, she tells him, “I can’t imagine you afraid. No matter what happened, you’d talk your way out of it” (36). This presents Mr. Clutter as a man of strength and integrity, but also with a persuasive tongue (all traits that will prove useless when Herb is put in an inescapable situation). Foreshadowing becomes apparent once more when Mr. Clutter goes to buy life insurance within hours of his murder. He buys a forty-thousand-dollar policy that in the event of death by accidental means, paid double indemnity. Bob Johnson, his insurance agent, says to him, “You’re a young man. Forty-eight. And from the looks of you, from what your medical reports tells us, we’re likely to have you around a couple of weeks more” (47). Bob Johnson foreshadows Herb Clutter’s untimely death without even knowing it.
ReplyDelete"In Cold Blood" utilizes several different rhetorical devices in part one. Irony is applied when the Sheriff and Larry Hendricks are investigating the Clutter house. They come across Bonnie Clutter who is tied to her bed and dead as a dog. Hendricks states, "The cord around her wrists ran down to her ankles, which were bound together, and then ran on down to the bottom of the bed, where it was tied to the foot board-a very complicated, artful piece of work"(63). The elaborately constructed knot is described as an "artful piece of work". This is very ironic considering this was a brutal quadruple murder, yet the knot constraining Mrs. Clutter is artful and almost admired by Hendricks. Irony adds to the eerie and mysterious atmosphere that the reader feels in this passage.
ReplyDeleteIn Truman Capote’s novel, “In Cold Blood”, he uses many rhetorical devices to describe the town and all its inhabitants to the reader. He uses an example of imagery to describe the morning before the murders of the Clutter family, “It was ideal apple-eating weather; the whitest sunlight descended from the purest sky, and an easterly wind rustled, without ripping loose, the last of the leaves on that the Chinese elms”(10). This use of imagery shows the placidity and serenity of the small, Kansas farm town. It explains why it was such a huge shock to the town’s residents. Before the murder of the Clutters, the town was so peaceful that no one would lock their doors at night. Everyone knew each other in the quiet town and crimes were a seldom occurrence. Such a horrendous crime would have never been expected in Holcomb, especially to a family so loved by the community as the Clutters.
ReplyDelete“In Cold Blood,” a timeless piece by Truman Capote, will always have sentimental value for the inhabitants of Holcomb, Kansas. In November of 1959, the tight-knit community suffered a blow that would hurt for decades. During the exposition of the novel, the reader is introduced to the beloved Clutter family: allowing the reader to personally get to know each member before they were brutally murdered. The main way the reader gets to learn about the characters is through the use of dialog. Dialog, in other words storytelling, is the way Capote captures the reader’s attention and really humanizes these people. Jolene Katz says to Bonnie Clutter, “I just love her to death. Well, everybody does. There isn’t anybody like Nancy” (Capote 25). Everybody loves Nancy Clutter, and all of the Clutters for that matter. This sample and many like it are used throughout part one in hopes to make the readers connection with the family just as strong as the town’s. By developing the characters so extensively, it makes their murders all the more tragically devastating.
ReplyDeleteIn Truman Capote's novel, "In Cold Blood", Capote utilizes his rhetorical devices in a way to vividly describe the tragedy of the Clutters. Capote started off by giving Nancy Clutter the background of a innocent young lady to make the reader feel sympathy when she was murdered. When Nancy was found dead, Capote used imagery in the descriptions to show how undeserving this was for her. Capote says, "She'd been shot in the back of the head with a shotgun held maybe two inches away. She was lying on her side, facing the wall, and the wall was covered with blood. The bedcovers were drawn up to her shoulders. Sheriff Robinson, he pulled them back, and we saw that she was wearing a bathrobe, pajamas, socks, and slippers"(62). The blood everywhere creates a mental picture for the reader that it was an overkill of the poor girl. Also the clothes she was wearing showed how she was just a typical innocent girl just like any other girl. Capote used this imagery here to make the reader feel sorry for Nancy since she was just an innocent girl who had an extreme death. Since Capote develops this sorrow for the Clutters it develops a source of hatred towards the killers throughout the novel.
ReplyDeleteTruman Capote's novel "In Cold Blood" uses many rhetorical devices to bring the cold hearted murder of the Clutter family to life and to show the reader the horror that befell them and the town of Holcomb, Kansas. Capote uses imagery to describe how the Clutters were found, writing "She'd been shot in the back of the head with a shotgun held maybe two inches away. She was lying on her side, facing the wall, and the wall was covered with blood" (62). It shows how gruesome their murders were as it paints a picture for the reader. Capote uses similes and onomatopoeia as well. "And when those mail sacks come flying out -- sakes alive! It's like playing tackle on a football team: Wham! Wham! WHAM!" (66). Capote writes this when he changes the scene of the story to show the spread of the terrible news of the Clutter family as it reaches the post office. Capote's use of these rhetorical devices forces the reader to realized that the Clutters were real people, who lived real lives before they were savagely murdered.
ReplyDeleteTruman Capote in his novel "In Cold Blood" uses numerous rhetorical strategies and devices to appeal to the reader. He uses diction and dialogue quite often to get his point across, especially for Dick. Dick says to Perry quite confidently," I promise you, honey, we'll blast hair all over them walls"(Capote 22). This little sentence really tells us a lot about Dick's character. Through his dialogue and word choice, we can predict or imply many things. He calls Perry "honey," which is something he does often, even though he does not see Perry as a romantic partner. He might be saying this to make himself seem dominant and masculine, and to emasculate Perry. It might also be him manipulating or even teasing Perry because it is suspected that Perry is homosexual. Also, his improper use of grammar when he says "them" instead of "those" shows that he might not be well educated or at least that he is not concerned with sounding "proper" when he speaks. Capote reveals a lot about his characters through his strategies.
ReplyDeleteIn Truman Capote's, "In Cold Blood", he uses numerous different rhetorical devices to explain the story to the reader. The device that allows readers to fully understand the text is imagery. Capote's uses imagery to put the reader into the story, to describe the setting and characters in such detail that you to feel like you are in Holcomb, Kansas with the Clutter family. In the first paragraph of the novel Capote introduces Holcomb to the reader, " The land is flat, and the views are awesomely extensive; horses, herds to cattle, a white cluster of grain elevators rising gracefully as Greek temples are visible long before a traveler reaches them"(1). This description allows the reader to picture what exactly Holcomb looks like. He decribes a boring small town with nothing but flat land and some animals. This description makes readers think that this is a boring town where nothing happens, but that all changes throughout the novel.
ReplyDeleteIn the exposition of "In Cold Blood", Capote uses vivid description to describe the members of the Clutter family. Describing Mr. Clutter he says, "Though he wore rimless glasses and was of but average height, standing just under five feet ten, Mr. Clutter cut a man's-man figure. His shoulders were broad, his hair had held its dark color, his square-jawed, confident face retained a healthy-hued youthfulness, and his teeth, unstained and strong enough to shatter walnuts, were still intact"(6). This description gives the reader a better understanding of what Mr. Clutter's physical appearance was. It shows that he was a strong man who was in very good health. When the reader later finds out that Mr. Clutter and his family were murdered, it is unexpected, given that Mr. Clutter was characterized as a strong man.
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ReplyDeleteThroughout the whole novel Truman Capote uses many devices to gain the readers interest, however one of the most used one is vivid description. One example of this being used is when Capote compares Perry's and Dick's tattoos. "The tattoos face of a cat, blue and grinning, covered his right hand; on one shoulder a blue rose blossomed. More markings, self-designed and self-executed, ornamented his arms and torso: the head of a dragon with a human skull between its open jaws; bosomy nudes; a gremlin brandishing a pitchfork; the word Peace accompanied by a cross radiating, in the form of crude strokes, rays of holy light; and two sentimental concoctions–one a bouquet of flowers dedicated to MOTHER-DAD, the other a heart that celebrated the romance of DICK and CAROL, the girl whom he had married when he was nineteen" (30). Dick's tattoos are both messy, and spontaneous. Capote shows us that Dick is impulsive, and does not care much about what is going to happen. He is not the planner, he is just the one to come up with the idea. On the other hand however Perry has very thought-out and detailed tattoos."They were more elaborate–not the self-inflicted work of amateur but epics of the art contrived by Honolulu and Yokohama masters. COOKIE, the name of a nurse who had been friendly to him when he was hospitalized, was tattooed on his right biceps. Blue-furred, orange-eyed, red-fanged, a tiger snarled upon his left biceps; a spitting snake, coiled around a dagger, slithered down his arm; and elsewhere skulls gleamed, a tombstone loomed, a chrysanthemum flourished." (32). Perry is the one worried about the murders and keeps insisting on getting black pantyhose for their faces. He is the one to think of all the small details that Dick has over looked. Capote added in these details to show the contrast in the two men.
ReplyDeleteTruman Capote, in the beginning of "In Cold Blood" uses multiple rhetorical devices. The most important;however, is his use of sensory imagery. All of the rhetorical devices that Capote uses, from the similes and the analogies, to the dialogue, and even describing the full beautiful day that foreshadowed the murders, they all involved sensory imagery. Capote writes, ""The land is flat, and the views are awesomely extensive; horses, herds of cattle, a white cluster of grain elevators rising as gracefully as Greek temples are visible long before a traveler reaches them."(3) Even though this is a simile, Capote only uses this simile here so that the reader can almost physically see Holcomb Kansas through Capote's imagery. Almost all of the rhetorical devices that Capote uses in his introduction of Holcomb, and of the characters in it, relate back to Sensory imagery. What better way to introduce the reader to something than letting them see it for themselves.
ReplyDeleteIn Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood", Capote uses many rhetorical devices throughout his novel. Capote uses the sense of imagery very descriptively. Many readers may not notice all the little images his uses to describe certain events. Capote uses imagery when Mr. Ewalt enters the house after the murder. He describes, "The curtains hadnt been drawn, and the room was full of sunlight" (60). It is very strange to describe a murder scene to be light, normally its describe as being dark and scary. I think Capote added this to show us that she wasn't a dark person and she was undeserving of this crime. A light color refers to something being pure and innocent. I think Capote wanted readers to feel sympathy for this undeserving teenage girl.
ReplyDeleteCapote uses similes within his crime novel "In Cold Blood" to help introduce the characters and allow the readers to get a detailed look at each individual's personality. Capote describes, "But with Nancy and then with Kenyon, the pattern of postnatal depression repeated itself, and then following the birth of her son, the mood of misery that descended never altogether lifted; it lingered like a cloud that might rain or might not" (Capote, pg. 27). Capite uses this simile to describe how the mental condition of Mrs. Clutter declined greatly over time. Overtime her misery lingered, until it finally overpowered her. This left her a helpless shell of the former woman she once was. Capote describes her depression as a cloud hanging over her life, that might begin pouring rain any minute. This allows readers to get a inside look at Mrs. Clutters thoughts and condition. Throughout the introduction, this simile is just one of devices Capote uses to help introduce characters to readers.
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