Rhetoric, The Novel, and Capotes In Cold Blood

1
Rhetoric, The Novel, and Capotes In Cold Blood

• Jessica Hylton
• 12/1/04

2
The Rhetoric of Fiction

• Written by Wayne C. Booth
• Published 1961 and edited and re-published in
  1983

3
The New Journalism

• Journalism that is characterized by the
  reporter's subjective interpretations and often
  features fictional dramatized elements to
  emphasize personal involvement.

4
The New Journalism

• Term coined by Tom Wolfe who wrote the book
  entitled The New Journalism
• Capotes In Cold Blood considered to fall into
  this category although he called it a nonfiction
  novel
• Said to dethrone the novel as the 1 literary
  genre at the time.
• First reaction from many was that it wasnt
  factual

5
In Cold Blood

• Holcomb, Kansas 1959
• Clutter Family murder
• Dick Hickock and Perry Smith
• Investigation
• Capture, Trial, and Conviction
• Death Row
• The Big Swing

6
In Cold Blood

• Published in installments in The New Yorker
• Published as a novel in 1966
• Instant popularity
• Film Versions
• Capote called it Nonfiction Novel
• Seen by others as new journalism

7
Invention

• Capote reads a short newspaper article about he
  murder
• Interested in how crime like this would effect a
  small, middle American town like Holcomb
• Convinced his current employer, The New Yorker,
  to send him to Kansas to investigate
• Harper Lee helps with interviews
• Uses accounts told by others about events prior
  meeting those involved as well as accounts of his
  own personal interviews with the murderers

8
Arrangement

• Begins with chapters introducing the Clutters
• Alternates between Perry and Dicks travels and
  chapters about Holcomb townspeople

9
Style

• Diction
• Sentences like newspaper or magazine article
• Elements similar to fiction writing

10
Authorial Liberties

• Fictionalized ending
• Focuses on Smiths life
• Puts in psychological information that was not
  admissible in court
• Uses Agent Alvin Dewey as representative for the
  town of Holcomb

11
Interesting Tidbits

• Actor Robert Blake who played Perry in the 1967
  film version tried for murder

12
Interesting Tidbits
Capote
Perry Smith
Dick Hickock
13
Interesting Tidbits

• Capotes life struggles after the book
• Capote paid for the murderers tombstones which
  were stolen in 1980, replaced, and then recovered
• Both Perry and Dicks tombstones recovered in
  2000. These originals are now a part of the
  Kansas State Historical Society's collection.

14
Conclusion

• On Amazon. Com received
• average rating
• 214 reviews of the book 141 of which were
  five-star ratings, 48 four-star ratings, 18
  three-star ratings, 4 two-star ratings, and only
  3 one-star ratings.
• On Google searching only websites ending in .edu
  received 594,000 sites
• Course descriptions for several different types
  of English classes, Film and Literature, Criminal
  Justice Classes, Ethics courses, Journalism
  classes, classes at several law schools, etc.