White's Trip 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 written by E.B. White. After revisiting a childhood vacation spot with his son, White witnesses his son complete the generational cycle thus making him realize his own mortality. While on this vacation White sees himself as his father and his son through seeing his son have similar experiences at the lake. White takes notice of the changes that have occurred at the lake overtime.

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

The theme of the essay is the changes that come with passage of time. In the essay the author has concisely mentioned all the details of the lake and how significantly it has changed over a period of time. The lake which was quiet, serene and virgin has changed to wild lake. When the author goes their with his son, he is utterly confused. He thinks that he is living a dual existence.

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”

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.

Like all other authors, E. B. White’s work was critically analyzed throughout his career. Most would give bad feedback, but everyone loved him and his writing. He had such a unique style of writing that made him popular for all ages. His books ranged from children books all the way to humor and knowledge about the styles of writing for adults. His ability to open up readers’ imaginations draws them in and makes them wanting more. With that, E. B. White is still considered one of the most-loved and best selling authors in history today.

"Once More to the Lake," by E.B. White is a short story in which White recalls his annual summer vacations to the lake, and in turn develops a conflict within himself regarding the static and dynamic characteristics of this lake, and their relation to the changes that White himself is experiencing as he is growing older. When White takes his son to the lake, he comes to the sharp realization that certain aspects of both the lake and himself are different, and with a sense of reminiscence, White takes us from the time his father first took him to the lake, and tells the new story of his most recent visit when he is no longer a boy, but a

Coach white seems to look down on the culture of McFarland due to how different the transient from schools have been. He came from a very traditional white school that was well off. Now he is at one of the poorest schools in the country with extremely low expiation for the students. Mr. White feels like the students are disrespecting him by calling him White possibly as a play on words for his name and his race. Mr. White clearly doesn't want to be here and would rather be any where else and it’s a clear reflection to the students and other

In one’s lifetime, there are moments where one may have feelings of youth or old age. The two texts, “Forgetfulness” a poem by Billy Collins and “Once More to the Lake” a passage by E.B. White both share a similar purpose and theme about aging in one’s life. Between the troubles of a middle-aged father who revisits his childhood and one who often struggles with forgetfulness, the reader will understand the shared concept of both texts. Altogether, the authors both use concise syntax and pleasurable diction in order to address the common theme of aging in life.

The first aspect is that Arundel stays with the nostalgia. The meaning of this is that he points out is his desires to return in his thoughts or in his life. The second aspect is that White loses the element of nostalgia and his main focus is on his son. The meaning of this is that he loses his nostalgia and focuses on his son and wants a better life for his son.

In the story E. B. Whites once more to the lake, A story about and man and his son who went on a camping trip in august. This vacation would prove to be a very special place a peaceful comforting place that would remain a yearly trip every august 1st. since then the boy had a son of his own and had feelings and memories about these trips when he went with his father. He then went to the lake with his boy and found that everything at the lake would have stayed the same. But he then has flashbacks caused by doing all the things him and his father done when he was a boy he would remember very specific things which makes him weave in and out of the past to present which may have been caused by a simple noise. my conclusion is that white has been

In “Once more to the lake” by E.B White, he talks about his return to his lake in Maine. He used to go with his father when he was a kid to this lake and now he takes his son to the lake with him and when he talks about the lake, he moves between the past and present and that gives a sense of a unique uncanny, but not the creepy strange unfamiliarity but the just the familiar. When his son jumps in the lake, the main character’s thoughts between the past and present get broken because he didn’t experience this as a kid and it transitions to mainly the present and he thinks of his own death, which gives a chill of death which is the uncanny.