ICB Chapter 1 Study Guide

Jaime – English III (2014) Name ______

In Cold Blood Chapter 1- “The Last to See Them Alive”

1. Who wrote In Cold Blood?

2. In what year was In Cold Blood first copyrighted?

I. "The Last to See Them Alive" P. 3-5. 3. Describe Holcomb, Kansas. Give 6 significant details. a. d. b. e. c. f.

4. In what county is Holcomb found? 5. What is the setting date?

6. How many people live in Holcomb?

*7. How do you think four shotgun blasts could have ended six lives?

P. 5-13. 8. Describe Herbert Clutter, give 3 significant characteristics. a. b. c.

9. Describe Bonnie Clutter.

10. Who are Eveanna and Beverly Clutter?

11. How old is Kenyon Clutter?

12. What is wrong with Mrs. Clutter?

13. Describe Nancy Clutter.

14. Besides kissing Nancy, what does Herb think is wrong with Bobby Rupp being Nancy’s boyfriend? Pages 9-13 Summary: The Clutter’s house had been designed by Mr. Clutter and built in 1948 for $40k. The resale value at this time was $60k. Situated at the end of a long driveway, the handsome white house was quite impressive in Holcomb. Their housekeeper came in on weekdays, but with Mrs. Clutter’s poor health, either Herb or Nancy ended up cooking the family meals. Herb did not drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes and allowed neither on his farm, which was the only criticism ever made of him as an employer. He was known as a charitable boss who paid good wages and gave frequent bonuses. On this day, Herb walked around his farm with Kenyon’s rescue dog, Teddy, a part-collie mongrel who was petrified of guns and would cower at the sight of one. He fed the core of his apple to Nancy’s horse, Babe, and called good morning to the hired man, Alfred Stoecklein, who with his family lived on the Clutter property. The Stoeckleins were currently nursing a sick baby so Herb let him take care of his family that day.

P. 14-17. 15. Describe Perry. (What does he look like? How tall? Hair? Eyes? Habits? Age? Interests? Etc.)

P. 17-22. Summary: The Clutters wake to a busy Saturday. When Nancy answers the phone, she thinks she smells cigarette smoke. (She suspects Kenyon, but she had been known to try tobacco too.) Mrs. Katz calls to see if Nancy will teach her daughter to bake a pie. Nancy agrees even though she already has many errands to accomplish that day. Mrs. Katz compliments Nancy’s cooking, acting and musical ability. It’s obvious she thinks the world of Nancy. Later Nancy talks with her friend Susan Kidwell about her date the night before and worries to her about her future with Bobby because of her father’s doubts about their relationship. She admits that she suspects her father has been smoking cigarettes because she smells smoke at odd times, but they agree that’s ridiculous.

P. 22-24. 16. What does it sound like Dick’s plan is?

17. Why did Dick “deserve no salary for the work he planned to do this morning”? What was he doing?

18. What did Dick tell his dad they were going to do?

19. Why did Dick live with his parents?

20. List 3 facts you know about Dick’s personal life.

*21. What do you think Dick and Perry are really going to do?

P. 24-30. Summary: Jolene Katz arrives and she and Nancy bake a cherry pie. Nancy has to leave so Jolene stays with Mrs. Clutter until her mother arrives. Bonnie Clutter is a small, fragile woman commented to Jolene that no one in her family needed her, and then she showed Jolene her collection of miniature figurines. She gave her one of her collectibles before she left. Bonnie had suffered from post-partum depression and had spent years dealing with the depression. She had spent time away from home in various treatments. After Jolene left, no one was home. Mrs. Helm, the housekeeper, didn’t come in on Saturday so “…on this final day of her life, Mrs. Clutter …put on one of her trailing nightgowns and a fresh pair of socks” and went back to bed. A Bible with a book mark lay beside the bed. “Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.”

Pg. 30-32. 22. Describe Dick. (New information.)

23. Describe Perry. P. 32-36 Summary: “The distance between Olathe, a suburb of Kansas City, and Holcomb, which might be called a suburb of Garden City, is approximately four hundred miles. “Just nothing scares you. … I can’t imagine you afraid. No matter what happened, you’d talk your way out of it.” Mrs. Ashida said this to Mr. Clutter as a compliment to his quality of being able to speak easily in front of people.

Pg. 36-37. 24. What two things does Perry buy in Emporia, Kansas?

25. Why does Dick say they don’t need to buy the stockings?

P. 38-41 Summary: Kenyon was 6’ tall, lanky, and wore glasses. He liked to work with wood. The housekeeper’s husband, Mr. Helm, and Kenyon worked in the garden. Nancy talked with them awhile. “And that,” he was to testify the next day, “was the last I seen them.” p. 41

P. 41-46. 26. Why did Perry really want to be in Kansas?

27. Why shouldn’t Perry be in Kansas?

28. Why did Perry not care that Dick criticized Willie Jay?

29. What was important about the letter that Perry received from Dick when Perry was in Buhl, Idaho?

30. What does Perry mean when he says “the choice was between Dick and nothing”?

*31. Why does Capote include Willie Jay in the novel?

P. 46-48 32. Write a two sentence summary including what is important in this section. Include names and the irony of the specific actions .

P. 48-49 Summary: “Never set my pretty foot here again. As though they were barring me from heaven.” Perry comments about Kansas. Perry is a dreamer. Dick is a realist who says he is still in love with his first wife, even though she had remarried.

P. 50-52: 33. Make a detailed list of what Bobby told the police.

c. f. 34. What inference does Bobby make?

P. 52-55. 35. Where are Dick and Perry by paragraph 2? What time is it? 36. Who is James Spor and why would Capote include him?

37. Why had Dick decided that Perry would be a good partner?

38. What caused Dick to have doubts about Perry?

39. What was wrong with Perry?

40. With what you know about them at this point, which of the two would you trust more? Why?

P. 55-57 Summary: Nancy’s room was pink and girlish. She wrote in her five-year diary. “Jolene K. came over and I showed her how to make a cherry pie. Practiced with Roxie. Bobby here and we watched TV. Left at eleven.”

P. 57. 41. How do you think Dick knew where they were going?

P. 58-60. 42. What seemed strange to the Ewalts when they first arrived at the Clutter house?

43. Which body was discovered first? By whom?

44. Why does Capote write that Mr. Ewalt ‘testified’?

P. 60-66. 45. In this section, who becomes the narrator of the crime? 46. How do you know he is talking?

47. Why does Capote use him to narrate?

48. When did the crime actually occur? 49. When is the reader being told what happened?

50. Describe the murder scene. Where were they found and how were they wounded? A. Nancy: C. Kenyon:

B. Mrs. Clutter: D. Mr. Clutter: 51. What evidence do the authorities have?

52. What is the best piece of evidence that could identify the killers?

P. 66-69. 53. How do the following people react to the news of the Clutter family tragedy?

A. Mrs. Sadie (Mother) Truitt

B. Mrs. Myrtle Clare

P. 69-73. 53. How do the following people react to the news of the Clutter family tragedy?

C. The average recipient of the news

D. Mrs. Bess Hartman

54. What was the complication for Bob Johnson?

53. How do the following people react to the news of the Clutter family tragedy?

E. Susan Kidwell

F. Bobby Rupp

55. Who was the principal suspect?

P. 73-74. 56. Where do Dick and Perry go after they leave the Clutter’s house?

57. What is the mystery for the reader at the end of chapter 1?