Brooke Derin
Mrs. White
CPA English
Period 2
v Impasse- (Page 84) – A position or situation from which there is no escape; deadlock
v Elated- (Page 164) – Very happy or proud; jubilant; in high spirits
v Egomania- (Page 173) – Psychologically abnormal
v Erratic- (Page 241) – Deviating from the usual or proper course of conduct or opinion; eccentric; queer
v Ensued- (Page 274) – To follow in order, come afterward, especially in immediate succession
v Prevaricating- (Page 290) – To speak falsely or misleadingly; deliberately misstate or create an incorrect impression; lie
v Innocuous- (Page 301) – Not harmful or injurious; harmless
v Commodious- (Page 338) – Spacious and confinement; roomy
v Emaciated- (Page 165) – To make abnormally lean or thin by a gradual wasting away of flesh
v Uncongenial- (Page 217) – Agreeable, suitable, or pleasing in nature or character
The word impasse is used when Nancy Clutter’s diary is being spoken about. In the diary, Nancy Nancy
The word elated is used in between a conversation with Dewey and his wife. “His face was flushed, and she could tell that he was elated.” It is used to describe the expression on Dewey’s face when he is about to show his wife the good news about the finding out that Dick and Perry were the ones who had committed the murders of the Clutter family. He was proud and obviously happy that the case was starting to catch some fire.
The word egomania is used to describe Dick through the words of Perry. “…He thought how “queer” it was, “egomaniacal”. The word is used to say… how wrong is it that Dick was doing everything he possibly could to impress Mr. Clutter… when he was only going to kill him within the next few minutes. It just shows how Dick`s thinking is extremely off and not normal in any way.
The word erratic is used to describe the whole situation of how one of the killers had put one of the Clutters on a mattress before they killed them. “…Other fragmentary indications of ironic, erratic compassion, the detective had conjectured that at least one of the killers was not altogether uncharitable.” It is used to describe how one of the killers might have had a little bit of compassion (although not normal), or heart, or whatever you
want to call it. Only it wasn’t normal, because yes, they make them comfortable for the moment… then end up killing them. Capote makes a decision to create this confliction of them and how they may have a heart there; yet, they still make the decisions they do with killing the family.
The word ensued is used when talking about the parent of Perry. He describes how his mother had men over when his father was away and when he came out they would fight and his father would beat his mom. “When he came home a fight ensued, and my father, after a violent struggle, threw the sailors out…” The word ensued tells us the order of the events that happened, one after the other.
The word prevaricating is used by Perry. He tells us how Dick made him seem like he was lying and making up information that wasn’t true about him and what had happened the night of the murder. “…Old Dewey made it sound like I was prevaricating- on account of Dick`s mother.” It is used, to sum everything up, to show how Dick goes against Perry and says he’s lying about things that happened on that night.
The word innocuous is used to sum up the Clutter family. It is used to point out… why did Perry and Dick pick the Clutters to murder? They might have been targets for other things considering they were viewed as “the perfect family,’ but they never would have harmed anyone or anything. “…Unconscious motivation explains why the murderers perceived innocuous and relatively unknown victims as provocative…” So why did Perry and Dick target and murder them? They were harmless.
The word commodious is used to describe a man who was at the ceremony where Dick and Perry were both put to their deaths. It is used to describe how he had on a suit that was too big for his little figure. It gave his body a lot of room. It was not tightly fitted at all. “…was attired in an aged double-breasted pin-striped suit overly commodious for the narrow figure inside it…”
The word emaciated is used to describe the physical aspect of Dewey. It is used to show how the case, all the stress and worries, not sleeping, and so on had really taken a toll on his body. “His state of mind was bad; he was emaciated; and he was smoking sixty cigarettes a day.” It describes how Dewey had become extremely skinny along with not being in the right state of mind, and still smoking cigarettes which didn’t make his physical appearance any better.
The word uncongenial is used to describe the relationship of Dick and Perry once they are places in their cells. Perry never liked to have everyone hear his business when he spoke to Dick, so they didn’t speak much while they were in their cells. The word is used to describe how they just had a civil relationship, they didn’t hate each other yet they were not talking all day every day in their cells.
- Overall, Capote uses some interesting words in his novel In Cold Blood. The words that I chose are words that were mostly used to describe someone or something. Defining the words helped to understand the meaning of the word in the sentence better, but also it really helped me to understand what was being described. The words fit nicely into the sentences and give each one a little spice. It offers the sentence a little more than just saying that someone was thin, or
harmful, or lying. Capote uses a lot of the words he does to make us, the readers, feel a certain way (Especially towards Perry and Dick). He has us feeling sympathy for them, then we dislike them for the things they do and say, then we feel like they could have a good side. He chooses a very conflicting situation with the reader’s feelings. I think Capote’s overall word choice helped make his novel be as entertaining, detailed, and the best it could be.
Works Cited
Capote, Truman. In http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cite Cold Blood. New York
Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. Haprer, Collins Publishers. 19 Feb. 2012 . <Dictionary.com
