Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

An Analysis of an Excerpt from In Cold Blood In this excerpt from In Cold Blood, Truman Capote uses multiple literary devices to depict a town in Kansas named Holcomb. Examples of this usage of literary devices such as syntax, imagery, and diction will be shown through direct quotes from the excerpt. Using these literary devices and quotes, an analysis has been written in order to explain how Capote uses those very same literary devices to show a better Holcomb in his writing. One of the most important literary devices is imagery. Capote uses imagery in a marvelous fashion to describe Holcomb in a way that the reader feels he is actually a member resident of this rural town in Kansas after the reader has only read the first few paragraphs. “After rain, or when snowfalls thaw, the streets, unnamed, unshaded, unpaved, turn from the thickest dust into the direst mud,”. (Capote, pars 2) While this quote avoids the use of many elegant words and phrases, it still paints a wonderful picture

Other than diction, syntax, the way Capote arranges his sentences, is the most important literary device in relation to how he relays such great, detailed imagery. As discussed earlier, Capote uses sentence structures and word arrangements which can easily be read, understood, and interpreted. That makes for better syntax on the basis of sentences not being required to have an immense amount of complexity in order to be of high quality, as this excerpt proves to be true. In fact, a sentence structure which delivers a tremendous amount of important details while avoiding complexity appeals to a wider audience in that the reading is seen as less of a challenge and more so as entertainment, see the quote in the previous paragraph for examples of how Capote does this. This immense amount of imagery helps to satisfy the readers want to feel a part of the world where the story takes