Summary Of Once More To The Lake By E. B White

E. B. White's story "Once More to the Lake" is about a man who revisits a lake from his childhood to discover that his life has lost placidity.  The man remembers his childhood as he remembers the lake; peaceful and still.  Spending time at the lake as an adult has made the man realize that his life has become unsettling and restless, like the tides of the ocean.  Having brought his son to this place of the past with him, the man makes inevitable comparisons between his own son and his childhood self, and between himself as an adult and the way he remembers his father from his childhood perspective.  The man's experience at the lake with his son is the moment he discovers his own

“Once More to the Lake” is an essay that was published in Harper’s Magazine in 1941 by author E.B. White. The author tells the story through a first-person point of view and describes his experience at a lakefront camp in Maine. The essay shows White going through an internal conflict between perceiving the lake and acting as he did as a child and observing the lake and acting as an adult. White’s experience and views as an adult almost seem identical to his experience as a child until it is effected by his recognition of the technology difference in the boats. Certain moments, such as when the author and his son are fishing, reminds White of when he spent those moments with his father. These nostalgic moments help White realize that even though human life is transient and insignificant, but experiences are eternal. The author sees that even though his revisit is slightly different, his son still has the same experience that he had when he was young.

The father does not like “the sound of the place, an unfamiliar nervous sound of the outboard motors [that] sometimes break the illusion and set the years moving.” He always talks about how “there were no years” and how everything was so constant. However, he is getting to the point where he is starting to know that his future is near. He starts to realize that when a thunderstorm comes. This brought the father “the revival of an old melodrama that [he] had seen long ago with childish awe.”He is no longer confused about who he is anymore, and he knows that he is getting old. As he starts to accept this, the lake which he saw was “infinitely precious and worth saving [is now] a curious darkening of the sky, and a lull in everything that had made life tick.” Although he realizes that it is what it is, he knows that this is something he will have to accept, and his son is the new generations who is going to hold the future. His son, whom he always got confused as himself, now sees his son for his child. When the son goes swimming, the father “languidly, and with no thought of [swimming]. . .saw [his son] winch slightly as he pulled up around his vitals the small, soggy, icy garment.” Seeing how his son is strong and independent gives him the “chill of death.” He finally realizes that he is no longer a child, he is an adult who is going to die. A new generation will take his place, and

In the text “Once More to the Lake” author E.B. White focuses on appealing to fathers or even possibly parents in general. The text is eloquently written to ultimately reiterate that change is constant and at some point in life all people will eventually die. His primary goal of this text is to enjoy the moments in one’s life before life is over. A nostalgic tone is used throughout when comparing his childhood memories to the current memories he is making with his own son. White is effective in illustrating his purpose by using techniques such as logos, ethos, pathos, and imagery to encourage his audience to be aware that their own lives are inevitably growing older each day.

In the Lake of the Woods is a fictional mystery written by Tim O'Brien. Through the book we learn that our lovers, husbands, and wives have qualities beyond what our eyes can see. John Wade and Kathy are in a marriage so obscure that their secrets lead to an emotional downfall. After John Wade loss in his Senatorial Campaign, his feeling towards Kathy take on a whole different outlook. His compulsive and obsessive behavior causes Kathy to distance herself from him. His war experience and emotional trauma are a major cause for his strange behavior. We remain pondering about Kathy's mysterious disappearance, which becomes fatal for her. Possible scenarios are presented in eight

The first stanza, which contains the son’s childish speech, is short, only three lines. However, by the stanza which contains the son’s angry talkback, the stanza is double in length, having four lines. Each line represents a literal level of maturity and growth that the son has gained. As time moves on, he is able to gain more and more experience in life. As his experience accumulates over time, so does his hostility. His terse, childish begging for his father to simply read another story turns to an angry speech about how he no longer beleievs in his father as an authority figure. Despite this, the son’s psyche changes back, as all this maturation is played out in the father’s head, and when he returns, he is back to his childish self, bu this stanza is the longest in the poem. This suggests that when someone is able to mature enough, they are able to comprehend more of the world than they did before, and are able to act

Another aspect to this poem that is very important would be the figurative language. The author uses a lot of similes and metaphors throughout further illustrate this father’s ridiculous ways. The speaker uses the simile “snaked like dragons” to describe the fire engines, this was a good choice in comparison because when you think of a dragon you automatically think of bright fires and then when you continue on the thought you think of their crouched down tiptoes

Authors often create texts that share common themes to teach readers importance of certain aspects and hardships of life. Theme may be expressed through an author’s use of rhetorical devices and many other contributing factors such as figurative language and repetition. The essay, “Once More to the Lake” written by E.B. White and the poem “Forgetfulness” written by Billy Collins, both contain a theme of identity loss. In “Once More to the Lake” E.B White connects to a lake at young age and when returning with his son years later is unable to identify himself. In similar theme “Forgetfulness” describes different factors of human life and everyday things being forgotten and lost. Both White and Collins use repetition and metaphors to further push the theme of identity loss throughout the texts.

“Once More to the Lake” by E. B. White is about a man who decides to take his son on the family vacation to the lake he took with his father when he was a child. During the essay, the author reminisces on his trips to the lake during his youth and tells the reader about how things have changed. The author uses wonderful detail and at some points in the essay feels as if he is a boy again standing in his son’s place with his father next to him. The author shows the readers he is a man who enjoys time with his family and cherishes his memories at the lake by expressing how he values the way things were in the past, and the joy that he experiences at this lake with his family.

Moving on, the poem “Forgetfulness” by Billy Collins and E.B. White’s essay “Once More to the Lake” both use important figurative devices to describe the theme of how

I began to sustain the illusion that he was I, and therefore, by simple transposition, I was my father”(White 2). One can gather that White's father is the idyllic parental figure ,and every kid dreams of having one. E.B. Whites father guided him through life and taught him how to create a tradition. He gave examples of what being there for a son means. Showing them how to bond with one another and cherish every moment. Plus he shows his son how to be a family man and how to spend time with your loved one’s. However, not every child has a father figure, as that in the one in “Once More to the Lake” , guiding and developing them into young men/ women.

Imagery is defined as a figurative language that causes people to imagine pictures in their minds. As a writer, if you want the reader to take a journey, down memory lane, then the reader needs to not only see your memory, but touch, taste, hear and smell it as well. In “Once More to the Lake” it is easy to see why E. B. White has such vivid memories pertaining to the lake. Simply put, he enjoyed those summers. Returning to that same place brought back great childhood memories for him; memories and experiences that he will now be able to share with his son. From dragon flies darting two feet away and back again, to schools of minnows swimming by, or the camp grounds being swarmed parents and children people loading and unloading cars during

The water beats at the bank feel gently, and resides carefully to avoid over soaking it. The air is fresh and overwhelming with cool gushes of wind blowing past, provoking the trees to yawn and some times sleep. It was a lovely Valentine day and perfect for a picnic at Lake Lavon.