Suspense (Karla)

Even you know the outcome of the of the book in the beginning, Capote builds up suspense is by going giving parts of what’s going to happen and makes it more interesting. He started telling the story different from other books by telling the murders in the beginning instead in the end. By putting the murder scene in the beginning, he slowly develops the suspense and starts developing the facts of the murders and the killers. This also makes you jump into conclusions about the murders and why Perry and Dick killed them. When the murders happened we don’t know much details so as you keep reading the suspense starts to build up and the pieces start to come together. Capote tells the story in different point of views so you know what’s happening in the investigation, the residents in Holcomb and the killers. He also shows suspense by telling how the killers get away. In the beginning we don’t know much of Perry and Dick so when you keep reading you start knowing more about them and discover their background and why they did it and learn about their feelings. This makes you want to keep reading because you want to know more details and how the murders happened. By reading the entire book you start knowing all the details and come to a conclusion, which makes it more interesting.

Nature vs. Nurture Trayvon Martin (Karla)

Trayvon Martin’s killer thinks that if a person is black, they are going to hurt him. So when he saw Trayvon, he just got out the store and he bought skittles and ice tea, Zimmerman thought that he was going to hurt him or do something that’s against the law. The assumptions that Zimmerman made was that Trayvon attacked him and caused him to have a broken nose and head injury but the authorities didn’t see no sign of blood. Some people from the neighborhood heard screams calling for help and then you a gunshot. Most of the society sees this as murder instead of self-defenses. Trayvon wasn’t armed so many people don’t see is it as self-defense.  Many people are protesting that the man could go to jail for his actions and for justice for Trayvon Martin.

Nature vs. Nurture plays a part of this because first he calls 911 saying that there’s a suspicious person in his neighborhood instead of waiting for the police to arrive, he confronts Trayvon and starts beating him until he shoots him. When police arrived he is pronounced dead. If Trayvon didn’t do anything to Zimmerman then he had no right to shoot him and kill him. Just because someone is wearing sagging clothes doesn’t mean that they are criminals its their of dressing and expressing themselves.

Francois Villon (Karla)

According to blogger CR Ward, "Francois Villon was a French poet in the middle ages. He was born in 1431 in Paris. In 1455 Villon injured a priest and was banished from Paris. Villon was allowed to return to Paris in 1456 after being pardoned for the killing on grounds of self-defense. A year later Villon was banished again for stealing from the College of Navarre with his criminal compatriots who had formed Coquille, something akin to a small Mafia. Before leaving Paris, Villon wrote The Legacy, a tongue in cheek poem bequeathing his real and imaginary wealth to various 'deserving' people and institutions. Between times in prison he produced volumes of what are still considered by many to be the finest French lyric verse ever written.

“Ballade des pendus” translates to

        Brothers, men who live after us,
        Let not your hearts be hardened against us,
        because, if you have pity for us poor men,
        God will have more mercy toward you. " (randomwriterlythoughts.blogspot.com)

I think Capote use these specific lines from “Ballade des pendus” ("Ballade of the hanged men") in the beginning so you can have a feeling before you read the book and get an idea about what might happen the murders of the Clutter family. Also it might be what the author feels toward the murderers.  When Villon was sentence to death by being hanged he wrote the poem. I think they relate to the text is that the two murderers were sentence to death by being hanged.

Plead Innocent (Karla)

           

I would stand up for myself and plead innocent to being a witch because I wouldn’t want to spend most of my life locked up and it’s not fair of being hanged just because you plead innocent. I really don’t see a point of pleading guilty and going to jail for the rest of your life. What made people stand up for themselves is that they are not willing to plead guilty to something they didn’t do or they didn’t want to be locked up their entire life, and they’re willing to give there life to prove themselves innocent.    Some people really cared about their reputation and they didn’t want their reputation ruined by something that’s not true.   wouldn’t blame other person just to save myself that’s just being selfish; they might a family to take care of. If I was in their place I would of felt mad and betrayed. Honor and respect is important in some occasions, I rather die with honor then be accuse of being a witch.  

Hysteria (Karla)

Some people do let hysteria take over their way of thinking because they believe everything they hear. When some people hear rumors, they start believing it and thy start taking it seriously. Some people go hysterical; some may loose control of emotion because of the fear that happens to them. In some countries they still kill innocent people because they think they are witches or practicing witchcraft. Many societies banned witchcraft and if they practice it, they get killed or go to jail. Women get beheaded just because someone said they were doing witchcraft. Not everyone get hysterical some do it for their needs.  Some people accuse women of being a witch just to get their land. People should not take things to seriously because everything is not true what people say. Letting hysteria take over your way of thinking you can hurt the people around you and do things you don’t want to or do things your don’t intent to do.