In Cold Blood

These prompts can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before or after reading the novel.

Pre-Reading “Icebreaker”

Critics often cite In Cold Blood as a work that helped popularize true crime—a genre that now encompasses not just books and journalism but documentaries, YouTube series, podcasts, and more. What do you think draws people to true crime stories? Is it just morbid curiosity, or does the genre also help us think through some aspect of ourselves, our lives, our society, etc.? 

Teaching Suggestion: Given the amount of debate (and controversy) the true crime genre continues to spark, there’s no “right” answer to this question. However, encourage students to think beyond the more voyeuristic aspects of the genre to the ways in which true crime might help us cope with issues like mortality and the nature of evil.

• “Why do we love true crime - and is it healthy for us?”: NBC News op-ed on the psychology of our interest in true crime
• “Why Do Women Love True Crime?”: New York Times article on the gender dynamics of the true crime genre
• “Is True Crime as Entertainment Morally Defensible?”: New York Times discussion of the ethics of the genre

Personal Response Prompt

Capote began working on In Cold Blood while the investigation into the Clutter murders was still ongoing, and the focus of his research shifted as he became more familiar with and interested in the killers. Perhaps sensing this, responses to the book have often focused as much on Capote as the work itself. As you were reading, did you find yourself “reading in” preexisting knowledge of Capote (e.g., his identity as a gay man, his troubled childhood, etc.) while forming your opinions? Discuss what it was like approaching a text and author that are themselves as famous as the Clutter case.

Teaching Suggestion: While there’s value in analyzing In Cold Blood as literature independent of its real-world context, the complex nature of its creation and legacy also merit discussion. The fact that it can be difficult for readers to disentangle their response to the work from their personal views on its subject, author, etc. make this even more important. This is an open-ended prompt designed to get students thinking about the multiple layers of bias (or at least preconception) that potentially surround the work—Capote's sympathy for Perry, students’ own knowledge of Capote, etc.

• “In Cold Blood, half a century on”: 2009 Guardian article that discusses the legacy of the novel and why it captured the public imagination
• “Queer Blood”: Los Angeles Review of Books article that discusses In Cold Blood as “a book by a gay man about a gay man”
• "Fact Checking 'In Cold Blood'": 2013 Slate article on how Sandy Campbell fact checked the novel at the time of its publication

Post-Reading Analysis

What do you think Capote intended the title of his novel—In Cold Blood—to mean or evoke? Did you have any preconceived ideas about the title’s meaning when you began reading? How, if at all, did your understanding of the title change as the work progressed, and why?

Teaching Suggestion: Given the work’s subject matter, students are likely to assume its title refers to the murders themselves. While this is a defensible interpretation—Dr. Jones does raise doubts about both Perry and Dick’s capacity for empathy, and the crime itself is of course horrific—it isn’t the only possible interpretation. In particular, Capote’s depiction of capital punishment hints that it may be as cruel, premeditated, and brutalizing as murder itself. Use this question to begin teasing out students’ understanding of how In Cold Blood depicts the nature of evil.

• “‘In Cold Blood’ Killer’s Never-Published Memoir Raises Questions About His Motive”: 2017 Wall Street Journal article on a previously suppressed account of the murders by Dick Hickock that contradicts Capote’s depiction
• “Should There Be A Death Penalty?”: VICE video asking people around the world for their opinions on capital punishment
• “10 facts about the death penalty in the U.S.” from Pew Research