The senior AP English students have recently finished the novel In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. This novel is famous for the huge wake it made when it was first published, and it is still making waves today. It is about the real-life quadruple homicide of a small town Kansas family outside of Garden City and is said to be the first “non-fiction novel”.
The senior students involved in this class had the opportunity to learn a little more about the murder case, Truman Capote, and In Cold Blood itself when Tom Averill, a writer and professor at Washburn University, paid a visit to Seaman.
Averill is an expert on Capote as well as In Cold Blood and has done extensive research on the subject. Mrs. Barb Chamberlain, AP English teacher, invited Averill to speak on this subject in order for her students to get a better feel for the story and the effects of the book on society.
These students also have to write an essay based off of different prompts. Another goal of having Averill speak was to give the students another credible source to use in their papers.
Senior AP English student Sloan Nicolay said, “It was very interesting to learn so many details of the story, about the family as well as the murderers. We’re about to write our essays over the novel and he gave us all new ideas to think about as we write.”