In Cold Blood Truman Capote

The Beginnings of “True Crime” “The best documentary of an American crime ever written … The book chills the blood and exercises the intelligence … harrowing.” – The New York Review of Books In Cold Blood is a nonfiction work which chronicles the 1959 murder of a Kansas family, as well as the manhunt, trial and conviction of the perpetrators. The work’s subtitle is A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences.

A Cold Manipulation of Language Although the novel is nonfiction, Capote incorporates literary elements and narrative, including plot, character development, and setting. While the author’s original intent may have been to present a journalistic, detached account of a shocking crime, Capote uses rhetorical choices to make subtle arguments about the crime, capital punishment, success, and the American Dream. While reading In Cold Blood, pay attention to Capote’s subtle rhetorical choices, his “cold manipulation of language”.

Major Papers #5-6 #5: Write a rhetorical analysis of Capote’s argument in In Cold Blood. The paper must be 2-4 pages (MLA format). -- Use your Dialectic Journal for support. #6: Write a narrative essay describing one person’s experience with the American Dream. The narrative must be constructed around an interview of an American and his or her experience with the American Dream. The paper must be 3-5 pages (MLA format). -- Use your Dialectic Journal and the Jigsaw Presentations.

Dialectic Journal Related to Annotation. Using 2-column notes, copy significant quotes from the text (words, phrases, passages) on the left and respond to the right. Include page numbers. Respond to words, phrases, and passages that are significant (reveals something about the author, subject, or audience) and provide only the most insightful commentary. One response for every other page of text read. DJ can be used later to write an analysis essay.

Jigsaw Presentations In groups of 2-3 students, you will be responsible for presenting certain chapters of In Cold Blood to the class as a lead-in to a general class discussion. During the presentation, groups should focus on the main points of Capote’s argument in the chapter they were assigned (what it says), as well as the author’s rhetorical choices (i.e. diction, syntax, imagery, figurative language, appeals, structure, etc.) (how it says it). Choose a rhetorically significant passage to share with the class. Groups will be graded on the content shared with the class, as well as the effectiveness of the presentation itself (projection, eye contact, preparedness, length (5-10 minutes), etc.). Students in the audience should take notes based on the groups presentation. These notes could be used later in crafting one or both of a student’s major papers.

Reading Assignments Each reading assignment is roughly 20-25 pages. Each group will choose TWO sections of the reading to present (each will be presented separately for a grade). For In Cold Blood, there are four parts and four sections of reading for each part (a total of 16 presentations). Groups who do not do two sections of In Cold Blood will present sections from Nickel and Dimed.

Reading Part I: “The Last to See Them Alive” Section I: “The Village of Holcomb … Mrs. Katz is here.” (pg. 1-22) Section II: “Dick was driving … Nothing out of the ordinary.” (pg. 22-41) Section III: “The black Chevrolet … the car crept forward.” (pg. 41-57) Section IV: “Holcomb is twelve miles east … in the past twenty four hours.” (pg. 58-74)

Reading Part II: “Persons Unknown” Section I: “That Monday … Dancing.” (pg. 78-96). Section II: “The Kansas City Star … a hunting knife.” (pg. 96- 123). Section III: “A room in a hotel in Mexico … Our day ends at two p.m.” (pg. 123-147). Section IV: “It was Saturday … Hallelujah!” (pg. 148-155).

Reading Part III: “Answer” Section I: “The young man’s name was … him or his boy.” (pg. 159-179). Section II: “The Johnson family … They were invulnerable.” (pg. 180-198). Section III: “In Miami Beach … the real purpose of the interview.” (pg. 199-224). Section IV: “Nye was right … the year’s first snow began to fall.” (pg. 224-248).

Read Part IV: “The Corner” Section I: “Institutional … over her mouth.” (pg. 251-271). Section II: “The Garden City Telegram … Someone who cares about me a little bit.” (pg. 271-291). Section III: “The trial resumed on Monday … it demanded.” (pg. 291-317). Section IV: “Friday, May 13 … in the wind-bent wheat.” (pg. 317-343).

Nickel and Dimed