In Cold Blood Dialectical Journal Essay

1. “Then, touching the brim of his cap, he headed for home and the day’s work, unaware that it would be his last.” (page 15, paragraph 1)
This sentence is an example of foreshadowing, since it gives the reader a hint that something bad is going to happen to Mr. Clutter within the next few chapters.

2. “Though dusk had established itself, Dick, doing a steady sixty miles an hour, was still driving without headlights, but then the road was straight, the country was as level as a lake, and other cars were seldom sighted.” (pages 56 and 57, paragraph 5)
Truman Capote uses a simile in order for the readers to visualize what the scenery looks like. He compares the country to a lake using the word “as.”

3. “Nancy’s bedroom was the smallest, most personal room in the house -- girlish, and as frothy as a ballerina’s tutu.” (page 64, paragraph 2)

The author uses the word “as” to compare two unlike things, a bedroom and a tutu.

This simile helps the readers to understand how “girlish” Nancy’s bedroom was.

4. “Yet even upon this shadowed terrain sunlight had very lately sparkled.” (page 7, paragraph 2)
This excerpt is an example of alliteration, since almost every word begins with the same consonant.

5. “Wasn’t that a horse’s laugh?” (page 128, paragraph 2)
This question is an example of personification, since Capote gives human qualities to an animal.

6. “Now, on this final day of her life, Mrs. Clutter hung in the closet the calico housedress she had been wearing, and put on one of her trailing nightgowns and a fresh set of white socks.” (page 34, paragraph 2)
This excerpt is an example of irony, since the readers know that Mrs. Clutter is preparing for bed for the last time, but Mrs. Clutter does not.

7. “It was as though his head had been halved like an apple, then put together a fraction off center.” (page 35, paragraph

2)
This statement is an example of a simile, since Truman Capote compares Dick’s off center head to a sliced apple using the word “like.”

8. “This is it, this is it, this has to be it, there’s the school, there’s the garage, now we turn south.” (page 66, paragraph 2)
Dick’s statement is an example of repetition. Truman Capote decided to have Dick repeat himself in order to give readers the sense that Dick is nervous, yet excited to arrive at the house.

9. “Tonight, having dried and brushed her hair and bound it in a gauzy bandana, she set out the clothes the intended to wear to church the next morning: nylons, black pumps, a red velveteen dress -- her prettiest, which she herself had made. It was the dress in which she was to be buried.” (page 65, paragraph 1)
This excerpt is an example of irony because Nancy does not know that her handmade dress is going to be what she is buried in. The readers, however, are aware of this fact.

10. “Pretty soon Dick was snoring like a buzz saw, and I said to his brother, ‘Lord, I never thought I’d live to see the day Dick would go to sleep at a basketball game.’ Did, though. Slept straight through it. Only woke up long enough to eat some cold supper, and right after went off to bed.” (page 196, paragraph 3)
Truman Capote uses a simile to help the readers understand how loud Dick snores. He compares Dick’s snoring to a “buzz saw” using the word “like.”