88 pages 2 hours read

Truman Capote

In Cold Blood

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1965

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Thought & Response Prompts

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.

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