In Cold Blood AO3 Flashcards
What literary genre is ICB?
A non-fiction novel.
What is a non-fiction novel?
A non-fiction novel is a novel which presents the events of real life through the use of literary techniques generally associated with fiction.
Describe the narrative voice of ICB
There is no specific narrative voice, instead presents the events through different character’s perspectives
What did Capote use to create the narrative?
Newspaper accounts, investigative reports, letters and interviews
How was the story originally published?
As a four part series in the New Yorker in September 25th 1965, it was published as a book in 1966
What were some key elements of crime fiction?
Element of mystery/suspense
Clearly outlined motive
Murderer
Body
Clearly defined boundaries of good and bad
Follow the detective and observe the investigation as it unfolds
What does the plot of crime fiction reflect?
The social concerns of the time. It will indicate what social and cultural values are as a boundary has been crossed when a crime is committed
What was the golden age?
A boom in popularity of crime fiction during the 1920s-30s
What were some features of hard boiled crime fiction?
Realistic A tough private eye Generally set in the USA Sleuth isolated from society Protagonists are usually solitary with a strong moral code Graphic sex and violence Urban backgrounds The detective drives the plots
What were the realists view on crime fiction?
The reader is introduced to the crime and perpetrator at the beginning of the story
The realists used believable settings, carefully constructed and reflected society
Define caper story
A subgenre of crime fiction. The typical caper story typically involves one or more crimes typically theft perpetrated in full view of the reader. A subplot as part of the main plot.
Amateur detective
Someone who is a detective as a hobby rather than a job
Police detective
A member of the police force who investigates
“Fair play” rule
Giving the reader enough opportunity to solve the crime before the master sleuth reveals the truth
Modus operandi
How a criminal kills the victim
Psychopathology
Scientific study of mental disorders
Ratiocination
A reasoned trail of thought
Red herring
False clue or evidence that is intentionally misleading
Serial criminal
Someone who commits more than one crime
Suspect
Someone who has motive to commit the crime
Evidence
Information which tells you if a belief or proposition is true or valid
Circumstantial evidence
Indictive but not conclusive, relies on inference to connect it to a fact
alibi
A claim/piece of evidence that one was somewhere else when the crime took place
corpus dilecti
latin for body of the crime- actual body to prove the crime was committed
Clue
Anything that sheds light on the crime
Lead
Someone who helps the investigation move forward
Pre meditation
Planning a crime beforehand, shows intent
Motive
Reason why they committed the crime
Victim
Someone who was hurt/killed by the crime
Habeas corpus
a writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court, especially to secure the person’s release unless lawful grounds are shown for their detention
When were the Clutters murdered?
1959
When were Dick and Perry hung?
April 1965 after 5 years on death row
Modus operandi
How a criminal kills the victim
Ratiocination
A reasoned trail of thought
Amateur detective
Someone who is a detective as a hobby rather than a job
What did Dewey say about Capote’s theories of who killed the Clutters?
‘Truman felt that Smith really did kill all four. Smith was more of the killer type. He didn’t think Hickock had the intestinal fortitude to do it.’
What did Nye say about Capote and Perry?
‘They had became lovers in the penitentiary. I can’t prove it, but they spent a lot of time up there in the cell, he spent a considerable amount of money briding the guard to go around the corner’
What did Capote say about Perry’s reasons for killing the Clutters?
‘he suddenly found himself (in the Clutter house that night) in this psychological cul de sac. The Clutters were a perfect set of symbols for every frustration in his life.’
What did Ned Rorem say after a dinner with Capote in 1963?
‘He told us about the book- a non fiction novel he called it- and at one point said, “But it can’t be published until they’re executed, so I can hardly wait.”
What did James Post (the Chaplain) say about Dick?
‘I said his dad wasn’t the sex fiend Capote tried to make him out…like trying to rape the Clutter girl before he killed her…it didn’t happen. And other things…lies, just to make a better story.’
What did the legal delays mean for Capote?
The legal delays also meant that he could work on the narrative of the crime itself and the detective work leading to the capture of the killers, but he had no conclusion to the killers’ story until such time as the state of Kansas decided their ultimate fate through a series of appeals.
What was the 1950s like in America?
1950s American society was marked by an expanding middle class, confident consumer spending, and the early development of American suburbia. Having emerged from its involvement in World War II, America was eager to focus on the proliferation of an affluent middle class at home. The popularization of the automobile and advertising through television and magazines revolutionized American households.
America was marked by…
social conservatism and conformity
