E. B. White's Essay 'Once More To The Lake'

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 short story, Once More to the Lake, is about a father who takes his son on a camping trip to a lake in Maine. The father sees that the camp is exactly how he remembers it as he goes through time of reminiscence. As he goes back to nostalgic memories, he sees, through his son, that the camp is the same as when he was a child; however, his time at the camp reveals the true meaning of what time is. Time is a continuing process of the past, present, and future.

Nature has a powerful way of portraying good vs. bad, which parallels to the same concept intertwined with human nature. In the story “Greasy Lake” by T. Coraghessan Boyle, the author portrays this through the use of a lake by demonstrating its significance and relationship to the characters. At one time, the Greasy Lake was something of beauty and cleanliness, but then came to be the exact opposite. Through his writing, Boyle demonstrates how the setting can be a direct reflection of the characters and the experiences they encounter.

Although ethos and logos are important modes as well, this text is most effective due to White’s continuous use of pathos. His thesis statement suggests the urge to return to his childhood memories, “…this feeling got so strong I bought myself a couple of bass hooks and a spinner and returned to the lake where we used to go, for a week’s fishing and to re-visit old haunts” (“Once” para. 1).The audience is also evoked with anticipation to what will happen later. A good example of this is “I took along my son, who had never had any fresh water up his nose and who had seen lily pads only from train windows” (“Once” para. 2). The audience is left asking how the trip with his son will compare to his own memories. White goes on to describe in intricate detail his memory of the lake, cabins, and scenery. He uses visual imagery to allow the audience to place themselves in the setting he has described. “White wants to emphasize the permanence of some things, or at least the memory of some things, despite the continual change that happens in the world”

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

First off, “Once More to the Lake” and “Forgetfulness” each utilize nostalgic diction in order to generate the theme of annihilated time. In “Once More to the Lake,” the narrator takes his son to a lake in Maine that he always went to as a child. Throughout the story, he mentions how he sees himself in his son, hence getting him caught up with how quickly time flew by. In more detail, he chooses specific words to describe these feelings, such as “sustain the illusion” (White 2) and “revisit old haunts” (White 1). By using these specific words to explain his experience with his son, it makes it seem both natural and unnatural, similar to the passing of forgotten time. Moreover, these specific

E.B White, author of “Once More to the Lake” explores the dynamic relationship between father and son to convey the power of memory and the inevitable chill of mortality. The symbol of the dragonfly and the lake creates a sense of duality while introducing subtle changes throughout the essay.

First and foremost, authors E.B. White and Billy Collins both use exceptional repetition to portray the themes of their writings “Once More to the Lake” and “Forgetfulness”. In the essay “Once More to the Lake,” the main character expressed his connection to the lake from a young age. Later in life he brings his son and begins to be at a loss for his identity while being at the lake. Similar in theme, the poem “Forgetfulness” is a tale describing the loss of parts of one’s life that used to be known, much like identity loss. Repetition is a major key in both texts for pushing the theme of identity loss. During “Once More to the Lake,” E.B White experienced many moments that

Imagery, detail, and symbolism play a crucial role in this work. Imagery has the function of painting a picture of the situation in the reader’s mind so that he or she is able to develop a version of the story individually. It makes the reading a more personalized experience that helps the reader to understand what’s going on. When O’Brien was just about to escape to Canada to avoid being drafted, he described the scene that was presented in front of him. “The shoreline was dense with brush and timber. I could see tiny red berries on the bushes.” In this quote, the reader can visualize the setting of the lake where he has to make his life-changing decision. It appeals to the visual sense by describing the shoreline and even the sense of

Thus the narrator of the story, as an older and more mature man, tells the story as an introspective look back at his misadventures. The protagonist begins to gain some insight into his possible future while in the “primordial ooze” (Boyle, 119) of Greasy lake .After finding the floating body and dealing with the destruction of his mothers battered station wagon he is mre reflective of the situation he is in. The narrator, looking back at

“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.

“Big Two Hearted River”, a semi-autobiographical short story by Ernest Hemingway, is a story about the main character, Nick, returning to Big Two Hearted River in order to recover from his inner wounds. Nick Adams goes on a journey alone in nature for a therapeutic purpose as he suffers from PTSD. However, Hemingway purposely avoided any direct discussion regarding to Nick’s mental wounds. The absence of the discussion is contributed by Hemingway’s writing style, the Iceberg principle. Hemingway focuses explicitly on what occurs on the surface without mentioning actual theme. This indicates that the theme of self-healing cannot be uncovered by simply looking at the text itself. In order to comprehend the actual theme of the story, the character development of Nick must be examined. This is possible since Nick Adams is a recurring character of Hemingway’s stories. The two preceding stories of “Big Two Hearted River”, “Now I lay me” and “A Way you’ll Never Be”, directly discusses Nick’s suffering from shell-shock and how he comforts himself by returning to Big Two Hearted river in his mind. The two short stories will be analyzed and connected to “Big Two Hearted River” in the essay first. This will provide a strong understanding of Nick’s psyche and the reason behind his return to nature. Then, “Big Two Hearted River” the short story itself will be carefully analyzed.