In+Cold+Blood+activity

Directions for the activity: Directions: Find three categories of interesting chains of evidence to highlight your text. I would like you to practice going from the concrete (specific textual examples) to the abstract (commentary about what the bright reader can infer). In the two-column format below, I would like you to chart your evidence and commentary.


 * ~ Example Category: Signs ||
 * = //Concrete Details// ||= //Abstract Concepts// ||
 * < Dance Sign: "the advertisement had been dark for several years" ||< This shows that the SOCIAL aspect of the town is dead. It was a focal point, a vibrant location in the town, but it no longer units the community. ||
 * < Bank Sign: "in flaking gold on a dirty window" ||< Another aspect of the town is dead, this time a FINANCIAL aspect. The town was once very wealthy, but it no longer is as the gold lettering is flaking away. Perhaps the town is flaking away too. ||
 * NOTE #1**: The above category would be stronger if I had three concrete details. Strive to find 3 concrete details for EACH of your categories.

Other ideas for chains of evidence: organization of the paragraphs, style of writing, things contrasted within the paragraphs.


 * NOTE #2**: You do not need to focus in on or use these chains. If you see something else running through the paragraphs, by all means explore that and bring those to class tomorrow as well

The opening paragraphs to the novel __In Cold Blood__ describe extensively the town of Holcomb. Old business signs not only physically reflect what the town once was but also metaphorically hint as what Holcomb has become. The __DANCE__ sign that is spotted downtown hints at the vibrancy the town once had. Since it is an old electric sign, one can almost imagine the sign pulsing in the dark night sky, beckoning members of the surrounding community to come and enjoy the fun times happening in the town. However, “the advertisement [has now] been dark for several years,” indicating the the social aspect of the town is dead. While the dance hall had once been a focal point of the community, it no longer unites and brings everyone together. There is also the __BANK__ sign that also hints at how vibrant and well off the town once was. With its gold painted letters, one knows that the town had to once be well off: after all, gold lettering would only be used if the bank was doing a health business. Now, there is just “flaking gold on a dirty window.” Another critical aspect of the town is dead; its financial well-being has been decimated. The once wealthy town is no longer so, and the flaking gold lettering is perhaps indicating that the town is slowly flaking away too.
 * Example Paragraph for the above names category SIGNS**, which reflects the level of analysis explained in lecture.

Class example #1 (I'm not following this paragraph) The organization of the paragraphs go from vague to specific, insignificant to important, and from ghost town to gold mine. Capote begins in paragraph two by saying, “Not that there is much to see – simply an aimless congregation of buildings….” By the end of the piece, the nitty-gritty of near-beer and sandwiches being served at Hartman’s Café comes out as specific details. Not much to see seems pretty vague, but Hartman’s café and the gaunt postmaster are much more detailed. The location of Holcomb, in middle-of-nowhere Kansas has little effect on the overall story. Does the location of God-knows-where Kansas really affect the broader context of the story? The people themselves are what really matter. Mrs. Hartman, our denim-clad postmaster, and the Stetson wearing cowboys all take precedence in //In Cold Blood//. The dead town of Holcomb, home only to a few backcountry hicks, looks desolate; however, the hidden world of Holcomb was underground, literally. The farmers of Holcomb have made their fortunes with the natural gas hidden beneath their land. This wealth is reflected in the school. The contrast created in the organization of the paragraphs benefits the reader as they begin entering the town. The view of the desolate town at the beginning slowly gives way to the impressive hidden world of Holcomb.

Class example #2 (excellent example of technique and analysis) The first five paragraphs of Truman’s Capote’s //In Cold Blood// are organized in such a way that the reader progressively learns more about the town with every passing paragraph. In the first paragraph a very general picture is painted through phrases such as “high wheat plains of western Kansas” and “the views are awesomely extensive”. This paragraph creates a blurry picture as if the reader is looking upon the town from afar without their spectacles. By holding back critical information, Capote builds suspense within the reader as to what the town is truly like. The following two paragraphs describes in greater deal the town itself through descriptions of buildings and structures such as the disheveled bank, forgotten railroad, rejected café, and the deserted dance club. This increase of description provides the reader with a more vivid detailed picture of the lack of life within the town. This helps to better engage the reader by producing a clear image of a small backcountry prairie town using details that feed the readers curiosity that evolved in the first paragraph. From there, Capote explores the characteristics of the town people themselves through descriptions of their monetary and social situations, and their occupations. By providing such intimate detail, Capote allows the reader to feel truly connected the town and it’s inhabitants. By doing so, the readers establish a more concrete relationship with the citizens of the deserted town. This creates an interest in the reader that causes them to desire more information. By constructing the opening of this story from broad to detailed, Capote sparks interest in the reader through the three distinct levels of information, spanning from general to specific, thus creating an extremely effective opening to his novel.

Class example #3 (Very solid example here too. Good approach.) Truman Capote chose to begin this piece with generalizations and continue on to expand his work by defining the town and people using specified details. He begins by stating the general setting: “Seventy miles east of the Colorado border…with its hard blue skies and desert-clear air.” The reader gets a feel for the location and the atmosphere. One can infer that location is a slow-paced, tiny and barren town in the west. Paragraphs two and three become more ingrained with detail. The once lively town with bright signs is now a town of “stark structures” and “peeling paint.” Capote characterizes the town, the buildings, and the people in it both as it used to be and as it currently is. The addition of greater detail allows the reader to form a more concrete picture of Holcomb. Capote uses paragraph four to describe the school as “modern and amply staffed,” as well as listing descriptions of the people in the school and their situations. By extensively describing the building and the people specifically in it, the author gives the reader an even richer mental image through the use of detail. These more specific details in the later paragraphs stand out because of the contrast created by the earlier broad descriptions. He begins by including general aspects of the setting and then narrows into a description of solely one building featured in Holcomb.

Class example #4 (Outstanding!) The first several paragraphs of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood display a rhetorically sophisticated introduction that set the atmosphere for the coming novel. Beginning with the first sentence, continuing throughout the last paragraph, readers are given an eerie look of a desolate town waiting for a drastic event to occur. "The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call 'out there.'" This first description of the novel's main town evokes an emotional feeling of uncertainty. Quoting the town of Holcomb as "out there" is especially significant because that is how it is described by other Kansans. Most Kansas cities are the same rural towns, so if Holcomb is distinguished among others, then it must have different qualities or specialties. While the next few paragraphs have general descriptions of the town, paragraph four goes into much more detail about two specific parts of the town: the school and the farmland. Because these two aspects are covered more thoroughly, readers are lead to believe that these are more crucial to the story. Furthermore, the paragraphs leading to paragraph four all illustrate a forlorn western town, generally negative, while this paragraph demonstrates positive establishments. There is a "fleet" of school buses, showing its financial stability. In the farmlands, there are "plentiful natural-gas resources." These positive connotations on these phrases show signs of life and vitality in these parts of town. They also lead into the final paragraph of the introduction, indicating its significance to the plot. The final paragraph serves to transition the introduction to the main body of the story. As such, it begins with "until one morning in mid-November of 1959, few Americans - in fact, few Kansans - had ever heard of Holcomb." Beginning with such syntax, one can infer a major event is about to occur in the town to make it widely known and popular. Having dashes to say Kansans hardly had heard of Holcomb exaggerates the dramatic change in events that alter the status of the town. By having a continuing trend of suspicion and isolation, the introductory paragraphs of In Cold Blood lead readers into a suspenseful plot.

Class example #5 (exceptional!) Throughout the first few paragraphs of __In Cold Blood__, Truman Capote organizes the town in sections by paragraph to give the reader the clearest possible image of the town as a whole, starting with broad descriptions and narrowing in on specific attributes. “Simply an aimless congregation of buildings divided in the center by the main line tracks of the Santa Fe Railroad” is one of the first introductions to the seemingly barren town of Holcomb. It sets up a broad overview of the town, giving no personal touches or details, just facts. On first impression, the town feels cold and unwelcoming. More specific descriptions of two “filling stations” and associated townspeople in the next paragraph serve to present a more realistic and personal view of Holcomb. Capote slowly introduces the reader to the town, as one begins to realize that there’s more than meets the eye. The most detail is concentrated on the school, in the last body paragraph. Here, a reader finally sees the progression of details, in that the author not only provides specifics but also analyzes what they mean. Being modern, the school differed from the crumbling town, which indicates that although the current adult generation is deteriorating, they have strong hopes for the future. Through Capote’s organization of broadness to specificity, he slowly introduces the reader to the town of Holcomb and its residents, showing a level of personality that can’t be seen at first glance.

Class example #6 (Pretty good. Might have been helped by a few more specific details.) The organization of the paragraphs takes one on a tour of the small town of Holcomb, Kansas. The first paragraph starts one at the very farthest they could be from Holcomb. They are out in the prairie, where Holcomb is only just visible in the distance. Slowly one can begin to see the people of the town and, as the paragraph takes one even closer, hear the language of the people. The next two paragraphs take the reader on a trip throughout the town. The reader is shown the buildings and the outskirts of the town. One sees the run down buildings and witnesses evidence of the prior prosperity of the town that now is lost to history. The last paragraphs introduce the reader to the towns pride and joy, the school, as well as the people of the town. The reader is told about the current prosperity the town is experiencing; the rise in money and wealth can be seen in the new school and the improved interiors of the farmhouses. One learns that, though the people are in a less than prosperous town, they are able to survive and flourish through their hard work and toils. This organization of the paragraphs makes the reader feel as though they have lived in the town all their lives and are a part of it.