I think that the author used this specific rant he used often to show the choice of words that he had. The words that he used like “neurotical” and “epicurieal” show how smart he really was because those are big words that you dont really use on a daily basis. This is an example of diction. This also reminded me of the previous article we read about him which stated that he was intelligent.

When I read this sentence (WHEN ALL FAILED TO PUMP UP HIS EGO. HE KILLED GIRLS.) I think that this guy is really something else, I say that because I believe its not really about his ego but, too see if the girl would actually sneak out of her house to go to a party. The tone of this story is really deep and can affect people emotionally. Personally I think that he deserved what he got.

Schmid was very insecure about his life and appearance, so when he was proud of something he did. He was the type of person to tell people about it.

I agree completely with you analysis of how the author wanted him to seem sick, but I think its sick with worry for his new girl. This is because she also said “until he became infatuated with a girl, and started having nightmares that she was next on Schmid’s list.” Showing why he went to police.

The author’s diction here seems to point out that Smitty was rather drunk when he decided to murder a woman. Not only did she flat out state he was on a drinking “binge” meaning he drank a lot at one time, but he just said this as a strange passing thought. Which puts a very dark head on the body of “Smitty.”

This is an example of direct characterization of Gretchen Fritz. The author is directly telling us that Gretchen is loud and headstrong, and knowing these character traits about her helps us understand why Schmid was so worried she’d tell people about the Rowe murder.

The word “spewed” is often associated with vomiting, which shows that the author is trying to demonstrate that Bruns was feeling so scared and anxious he felt he had to tell the police—it was practically involuntary. The choice of the term “fever pitch” in the same sentence strengthens this idea; it shows that the author is purposefully choosing words that make the reader think of sickness and the desperation of a sick person to do whatever it takes to make themselves feel better.

This paragraphs is one of the most terrifying paragraphs in the article as it describes some very gruesome activity, yet it doesn’t come across that way. The diction in this paragraph shows that the author is not trying to create suspense, she is simply telling the facts of what happened with no particular emotion or attitude. I think the author is doing this because the article is about a very emotional topic and writing in this style causes the reader to focus on and understand the facts rather than feel so distraught about what happened they can’t think about anything else.

It sounds like the guy from “where are you going.”

I think he decided to start killing people because it’d make him feel stronger, however, I think he killed girls because in his eye, they would be easier to drag away and kill. Also, if he were to be dragging their corpses around in a desert, he would probably want something lighter, seeing as he wasn’t that big himself.

Schmidt was at least in his mid twenties when he started killing girls. I wonder it was still illegal for a 17 year old to date a man of his age back then, as it its now? If it was this would add to my evidence of Schmidt being a pedofile. Also it might explain why so many young girls were attracted to him. Since he was “off-limits”, girls probably saw that as mysterious and sexy so they sought after him.

The author says this nonchalantly. She uses syntax and diction to make the sentence very powerful. The thing that is interesting about this sentence is not as much the words used but the words not used. She doesn’t build up the tension to make the reader anxious to know about Schmidt, she blatantly says “…he killed girls.”, making the reader look back and read it again. The short sentence cut into two fragments adds to the casual tone. She doesn’t use too many words to make the tone formal and she doesn’t make the sentence short and choppy for effect. She uses it to create a calm reader who then suddenly becomes confused and frightened.

She actually was killed by a blow to the head. Schmidt knew that but he still wanted a retrial because he thought he could convince the jury otherwise. Also, he moved Rowe’s body on his own, so then he had leverage to perhaps get a shorter sentence. Yet, his plan backfired and the autopsy showed that Saunders, Schmidt’s accomplice and the man who testified against him told the truth about Rowe’s body. Thus meaning, Schmidt was not getting out of jail anytime in his life.

That stood out to me because its like the guy is short.

Again this writer is stuck on his height, he talks about how he was a freak and how he would stuff his shoes with the socks and tin cans.

The author is portraying Schmid as a guy who is trying to look more scary than he actually is.

The author uses these words to belittle schmid.

The impact of this sentence is adding more character.

I think this shows how messed up in the head he really is. The fact that he has a growing list of people he wants to kill further proves that something is wrong. His friend was so scared that his girlfriend might get hurt he confessed to helping with murder. If his friend hadn’t said anything, lots more woman would would have eventually been raped and killed who were on his so called “list”.

It is interesting that the author thought he was “naturally handsome” but describes his looks and wearing make-up like you would describe a woman’s make-up and pointed out he had a “beauty mark”. Perhaps she wanted the readers to view him as less than masculine.

I agree that it would have been because they would be easier to drag away and kill. Although, I also think it could be because women were more vulnerable and couldn’t really fight back. He went after girls who were a little more rebellious and probably thought that they would come with him for something scandalous and risky.

Charles Schmid, who preyed exclusively on teenage girls, absolutely fits the criteria for being a pedophile. Rather than making him “off-limits” to girls, which falsely puts the blame on them, he was a violent manipulator and used his age and “charm” to manipulate girls.

“When all that failed to pump up his ego, he killed girls.” This sentence is short and to the point- it’s blunt and harsh to shock the reader.

Charles Schmid almost definitely “went wrong” far before that. Most murderers survived horrific child abuse, bullying, or have severe mental illness, or all of the above. Him not getting a job is a sign of mental illness, not a cause. Extremely few mentally ill people commit crimes, by the way!

Charles Schmid is physically described to show the readers that he is not mentally sound. The murders were committed out of a power-lust and need to dominate others. In this case, with the sexual-driven murders of young girls. He shows abnormal ego behavior and would maybe be diagnosed with histrionic personality disorder, along with sexual deviancy and antisocial tendencies.

Besides the fact that curlers are identifiers, they were probably fascinated with the objects and buried them separately out of a fixation.