The excerpt from the opening of In Cold Blood

My assignment was to take the excerpt from in cold blood and write an analysis on the devices it used. I was wondering if my paper sounded good. Also, I don't know what selection of detail means but I tried and I need someone's help on letting me know if my 4th paragraph about selection of detail. I know its confusing but I need to know how does my essay sound.

Excerpt from the opening of In Cold Blood
In the opening of " In Cold Blood," Truman Capote writes about the lonesome village of Holcomb, Kansas. By the way Capote describes Holcomb, I can understand why it is a lonely place. Through imagery, tone, and selection of detail, Capote characterizes all the aspects of Holcomb.

One of the devices Capote uses is imagery. Through the author's imagery, the reader can visualize what kind of place Holcomb is, and what it looks like. Holcomb is a big place - in which you can see it from great distances- and it is very lonely. For example, "After rain, or when snowfalls thaw, the streets, unnamed, unshaded, unpaved, turn from the thickest dust to into the direst mud," through this imagery the reader can visualize a very hot and sunny village where there is dirt and mud everywhere. Words like unshaded, mud, and streets, helps the readers get the perfect picture in their head.

The most important device Capote uses in the excerpt is tone. Tone is what sets the mood of this excerpt. This excerpt has a sad and depressing tone. For example, when the author uses words like "unnamed," "unshaded," and "unpaved," they all have a negative connotation. If these words were not used for a sad or depressing mood, then Capote could have used sunny instead of unshaded, or say it was covered in dirt instead of unpaved.

Another device Capote uses is selection of detail. The detail he uses helps set the stage of what is going on in this excerpt. Not only does the author describe the place, but also he describes the people there. For example, when he describes the woman as " a gaunt woman who wears rawhide jacket and denims and cowboy boots..." he not only describes what she is wearing, but he also describes her as skinny. Using selection of detail helps the reader visualize what this lonesome place looks like.

Capote uses imagery, tone, and selection of detail to characterize all the aspects of the village of Holcomb, Kansas.

I really need help writing my analysis essay on an excerpt form the opening of In Cold Blood. The assignment is to write how Truman Capote characterizes Holcomb. So please make as many corrections as you can find. Thank you:)

Excerpt from the opening of In Cold Blood
In the opening of In Cold Blood, Truman Capote writes about how unknown the village of Holcomb, Kansas is to many Kansans. To characterize Holcomb, Kansas Capote uses similes, imagery, and tone.

Capote uses similes to characterize how Holcomb is structured. When Capote says, "Holcomb, like all the rest of Kansas, is 'dry'" he is characterizing Holcomb by it does not have a lot of beer just like the rest of Kansas. Capote is characterizing how limited Holcomb and the rest of Kansas is. Capote also uses similes to characterize how known Holcomb is to many Americans and many Kansans when he says, "few Kansas-had ever heard of Holcomb. Like the waters of the river." In this example Capote is characterized by how lonely and unknown Holcomb is.

Capote also uses imagery to characterize Holcomb. Holcomb is easily characterized through the use of imagery because it provides the reader with the characteristics of Holcomb and how it appears. One example of imagery is when Capote says, "this one is flaking gold on a dirty window-HOLCOMB BANK." The imagery used makes known the visualization of the sign. It also makes it easier for the reader to visualize what is seen. He uses imagery by showing the color of the sign, what type of color it is, and by describing that, the window was dirty.

Capote uses tone to characterize Holcomb, Kansas. Throughout the excerpt, Capote uses a lot of negative connotation such as "meagerly," "melancholy," and "haphazard" to set a dull tone to show how dull the village of Holcomb, Kansas was.

I'm so confused! Are you twin sisters, or one person with a pen name? :-) anyway, I merged these threads because of the identical titles.

The Brittany essay has god structure. You certainly know how to write a topic sentence and follow it up with support. It's great... but I don't understand what your question is about the 4rth paragraph.

For the Briana essay, I see one awkward sentence:
When Capote says, "Holcomb, like all the rest of Kansas, is 'dry,'" he is characterizing Holcomb by identifying it as a town where no alcohol is sold, just like the rest of Kansas. ------------- you know, this is a simile by the definition of simile, I guess, but it does not really work in the poetic way a simile is supposed to work. If you said it was as dry as extra dry ginger ale, that would be a good simile, but to say it is dry like the rest of kansas just means that all of Kansas is dry. Is that true about Kansas, I wonder?

He uses imagery by showing the color of the sign, what type of color it is, and by describing that the window was dirty. ----- this is a good example, but maybe you should add a reflective/evaluative/thoughtful conclusion sentence to wrap up the paragraph or transition to the next one.

:-)

Hi everyone, Briana and I are twins and the question I had about my 4th paragraph is does it follow under selection of detail.

Hi Britney, sorry I did not comment on that. Selection of detail is just a fancy way of saying the author chooses details (in scenes) based on what she wants to express. We are all preaching about themes, so if Capote decides that the woman wears a rawhide jacket you can expect that it is significant in some way. Why does he choose to put her in a rawhide jacket instead of in a fur coat? Obviously, he is showing particular people for particular reasons.

What you have in your pragraph 4 is more about the device called "imagery"... the stuff we "see" as we read. You should revise that paragraph to talk about WHY he chooses to put the woman in a rawhide jacket. Why is she this sort of person? This requires you to understand the meaning of the story.

Another device Capote uses is selection of detail. The detail he uses helps set the stage of what is going on in this excerpt. Not only does the author describe the place, but also he describes the people there. For example, when he describes the woman as " a gaunt woman who wears rawhide jacket and denims and cowboy boots..." and she is portrayed this way because she represents ________________.