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A Rhetorical Analysis Of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

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In Cold Blood Rhetorical Analysis Typically upon hearing about a murder, especially a brutal and unwarranted one, we find ourselves feeling a great sense of disgust for the murderer or murderers who committed these crimes; however, in Truman Capote’s novel In Cold Blood, the lives and experiences of the murderers, particularly Perry Smith, are displayed in a way the makes you feel pity for him as well as the victims. When comparing Capote’s Novel to a typical news article on a similar topic it is easy to see the that Capote's style varies from typical journalism. An article written by Frances Robles and Nikita Stewart titled “Dylan Roof’s Past Reveals Trouble at Home and School,” discusses the childhood and background of Dylann Roof, a twenty-one …show more content…

Although the article Dylan Roof’s Past Reveals Trouble at Home and School gives light into Dylan Roof’s life, it does not go into the depth of emotions that Capote uses to show Perry’s troubled past. Capote uses tone to enhance Perry’s emotions in order to make him seem more relatable to the audience despite being a brutal murderer. In the passage on page 131, Capote reveals dark parts of Perry’s childhood through the perspective of Perry himself: “It was not long afterward my mother put me to stay in a Catholic orphanage. The one where the black widows were always at me. Hitting me” (Capote 131). Capote forces the reader to feel remorse towards Perry by describing a horrific childhood experience of his. In the news article, the authors are unable to create a pitiful tone for Dylan Roof because they do not provide the details and insight on his life that Capote does for Perry. Instead Robles and Stewart mainly rely on others who were a part of Dylan’s life to recall pieces of his life; “Several of Mr. Roof’s friends said he often complained that his father put him to work landscaping” (Robles and Stewart). This quote displays a fact about Dylan Roof’s life but it doesn’t express any emotion or perspective on how he felt about the topic. The tone of this quote is purely fact- based with no emotional input from Dylan or the

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