Honors English III
Summer Reading Project – 210 points
Over the course of the summer you are expected to read In Cold Blood by
Truman Capote, a nonfiction novel based on the 1959 murder of a family in
Holcomb, Kansas. Readers know the outcome of In Cold Blood from the
start, yet Capote still manages to build suspense. More surprisingly, Capote
creates sympathy for the murderers while never questioning their guilt. In
Cold Blood is rightly an example of a nonfiction classic.
Your assignment is to research news articles, read the novel, answer
the questions, and complete an essay from one of the topic choices.
This project is designed not only to measure your reading/writing abilities,
but also your commitment to junior Honors English. In addition, this
project will give you an understanding of what will be expected of you in the
coming year.
Your assignments are due the first day of class – August 22, 2013.
Failure to complete the assignment by this date is grounds for you to
be removed from Honors English III and placed into English III.
Questions and essay topics are attached.
I. Research Questions – 50 points
Directions:
Each question merits a 2 paragraph answer. Your answers must
be type written.
1. Find 3 newspaper articles (online from any reputable newspaper)
from 1959-1965 about the Clutter murder case. Print off your articles
and write a 2 paragraph summary of each. (30 points)
2. Find and state 5 facts about life in 1959. Explain why you find
these facts interesting. Examples: Who was president? What TV shows
were popular? (10 points)
3. Who was Truman Capote? What famous works did he write besides
In Cold Blood? What was his relationship with Harper Lee in conjunction
with his nonfiction novel In Cold Blood? (10 points)
II. Short Answer Questions – 100 points
Directions:
Each question must be answered in complete sentences. Your
answers must be type written on a separate sheet of paper.
1. How does Capote build suspense despite the fact that readers know
the ultimate outcome from the beginning of In Cold Blood?
2. In what ways is In Cold Blood like a fiction novel?
How does Capote report the facts and allow different voices to speak
without using a journalistic style?
3. In Cold Blood starts with details about the Clutter family's last day
alive. Do any of the details particularly stick out to you? Provide
examples.
How does Capote make you feel attached to the family by sharing these
details?
4. Are there any other characters you empathize with because of small
details Capote writes about? Bobby Rupp? Alvin Dewey? Explain.
5. Why do you think Capote splits the narrative into four sections?
Why do you think he does not describe how the murders happened until
Dick and Perry are caught and give their confessions?
6. Do you feel sympathy for Dick or Perry at any point?
7. How does Capote humanize the killers?
Are you surprised by how likable they could seem despite the brutality of
their crimes and their lack of remorse?
8. Capote seems to paint Perry in a more sympathetic light than Dick.
He seems sensitive and even kind at points; however, by the end you
find out that Perry committed all four murders.
Does that surprise you?
9. Do you think Dick and Perry were sane?
Did the psychiatric analysis of them and descriptions of other cold
blooded killers surprise you? Scare you?
Do you now think differently about violent crime or the death penalty?
10. Rate the merit of reading In Cold Blood by Truman Capote on a scale
of one to five. Explain your rating.
III. Essay – 60 points
Directions:
Your essay must not exceed 800 words to include heading and title. No
works cited page is required. Your essay should be typed and doublespaced, with a left-justified heading of name, teacher’s name, topic choice,
and date, and a centered essay title.
The body of your essay should include quotable quotes from your research
and the nonfiction novel itself. You must parenthetically reference (or use
in-text citation) of these quotes. All in-text citation and outside sources
must be documented using the MLA format for documentation and works
cited.
(This can be found online at OWL Purdue Online Writing Lab:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource)
Choose one of the following essay topics.
1. Write an essay discussing the title of this book. Is it appropriate? Why or
why not?
2. Describe the problem or main conflict existing for Smith within this book.
Explain in detail how this conflict is or is not resolved.
3. What is the most important event in this novel? Explain and justify your
answer with specific details from the novel.
4. Create a comparative essay between the characters of Hickock and Smith.
Include personality, social, physical, and other traits which can be used to
compare the two characters and use specific details from the text to support
your comparison.
5. Write an essay describing how the author uses foreshadowing. Provide
specific examples from the novel to support the information in your essay.
6. Write an essay about capital punishment. Use information from the
novel to provide supporting details for or against capital punishment. Would
Smith and Hickock have been executed today? Do you agree or disagree
with the decision of the court to execute Smith and Hickock?