Woodside

Thesis: dark blue Topic sentence: red Opinion/analysis: light blue Supporting detail:purple Commentary: green Transitions: pink

Introduction: The world is filled with all different kinds of countries, states, counties, cities, towns, and villages. Truman Capote focuses on one particular village in the excert from In Cold Blood. Holcomb, Kansas is a quiet town of two hundred and seventy inhabitants, not known by many people. However, it is more than what it seems for Capote charecterizes it as out of place and in contrast with itself.

Body Paragraphs: Holcomb is in the middle west, but Capote notes "that it is more Far Western" through attention to detail. He also creates the image of a classic western cowboy. "many of them, wear narrow frontier trousers, Stetsons, and high-heeled boots with pointed toes," is Capote's description of the people of Holcomb's attire. Selection of detail and imagery convey the charecterization of Holcomb as out of place with it's surroundings. Capote also mentions that Holmcomb is in the middle of very fertile farm land, and emphasizes the importance of grain to the community. "a white cluster of grain elevators rising as gracefully as Greek temples are visible long before a traveler reaches them,' Capote compares the grain elevators to Greek temples and uses diction to emphasize that, just as temples where the cornerstone of society in Greece, grain is the cornerstone of Holcomb. Yet Holcomb is very run down, and Capote uses words like "haphazard", "falling-apart", and "irrelevant" to describe the main buildings in it. All these old and decrepit buildings are out of place in the rich and fertile land, as conveyed by Capote through diction. But while Capote make it clear that Holcomb contrasted with its surroudings, he also made it clear that there were things within Holcomb that contrasted with the town itself.

There is one aspect of Holcomb that definitly stands out and that is the school. When Capote talks about the more unappealing aspects of Holcomb the tone is melacholy and tired. But when he shifts to the passage describing the Holcomb school the tone is positive and content. Words such as "good looking", "plentiful", and "prosperous" are used to convey the strange contrast between the Holcomb School and Holcomb through tone. Capote also mentions that a railroad runs throught the town. Railroads are the symbol of economic prosperity and foreward thinking, yet Holcomb is economically stunted in its growth with its lack of commercial buisnesses. Capote uses selection of detail by mentioning the train goes throught the heart of town to show how Holcomb contrasts with itself.

Conclusion: All in all, Holcomb is a mixed bag of opposites. It is out of place withe its rich surroundings and main aspects of the town contrast with other aspects. Overall, Capote's use of diction, imagery, tone, and selection of detail create and interesting village.