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Lakeside Memories In “Once More to the Lake,” E.B. White expresses a sense of wonder when he revisits a place that has significant memories. Upon revisiting the lake he once knew so well, White realizes that even though things in his life have changed, namely he is now the father returning with his son, the lake still remains the same. Physically being back at the lake, White faces an internal process of comparing his memory of the lake as a child, to his experience with his son. Throughout this reflection, White efficiently uses imagery, repetition, and tone to enhance his essay. First, White uses imagery throughout his essay to create an effective visual of his experiences at the lake. To start his essay, White reflects on his childhood memories of the lake when he and his family visited every summer: “I remembered clearest of all the early morning, when the lake was cool and motionless, remembered how the bedroom smelled of the lumber it was made of and the wet woods whose scent entered the screen.” This passage enhances …show more content…
One example of tone that is displayed in White’s essay is nostalgia: “It seemed to me, as I kept remembering all this, that those ties and those summers have been infinitely precious and worth saving.” This passage describes as if White is longing to relive the sacred summer still close to his heart, but something still remains missing. Another example of tone that is exemplified is peace: “This seemed an utterly enchanted sea, this lake you could leave to its own devices for a few hours and come back to, and find that it had not stirred, this constant and trustworthy body of water.” This passage sets the tone thoroughly. As White describes how the lake is trustworthy and persistent, he is portraying the idea of the memories he once experienced remain unchanged. The change of tone helps connect both positive and negative emotions
In the beginning we find the family and its surrogate son, Homer, enjoying the fruits of the summer. Homer wakes to find Mrs. Thyme sitting alone, “looking out across the flat blue stillness of the lake”(48). This gives us a sense of the calm, eternal feeling the lake presents and of Mrs. Thyme’s appreciation of it. Later, Fred and Homer wildly drive the motor boat around the lake, exerting their boyish enthusiasm. The lake is unaffected by the raucous fun and Homer is pleased to return to shore and his thoughts of Sandra. Our protagonist observes the object of his affection, as she interacts with the lake, lazily resting in the sun. The lake provides the constant, that which has always been and will always be. As in summers past, the preacher gives his annual sermon about the end of summer and a prayer that they shall all meet again. Afterward, Homer and Fred take a final turn around the lake only to see a girl who reminds Homer of Sandra. “And there was something in the way that she raised her arm which, when added to the distant impression of her fullness, beauty, youth, filled him with longing as their boat moved inexorably past…and she disappeared behind a crop of trees.
The lake itself plays a major role throughout the story, as it mirrors the characters almost exactly. For example, the lake is described as being “fetid and murky, the mud banks glittering with broken glass and strewn with beer cans” (125). The characters are also described as being “greasy” or “dangerous” several times, which ties the lake and the characters together through their similarities. The narrator explains, “We were bad. At night we went up to Greasy Lake” (124). This demonstrates the importance that the surroundings in which the main characters’ choose to be in is extremely important to the image that they reflect. At the beginning of the story, these characters’ images and specifically being “bad” is essentially all that mattered to them. “We wore torn up leather jackets…drank gin and grape juice…sniffed glue and ether and what somebody claimed was cocaine” (124). They went out of their ...
Authors often use details that evoke a response in readers to produce an effective description. Their aim is not simply to tell readers what something looks like but to show them. Katherine Anne Porter’s “The Grave” and E.B. White’s “Once More to the Lake” are essays that use subjective language to illustrate the principles of effective description. Porter’s “The Grave” describes a childish afternoon of rabbit hunting that brings death close enough to be seen and understood, while White’s “Once More tot he Lake” is a classic essay of persona; reminiscence in which he recreates the lakeside camp he visited with his son.
Within the essay “Once More to the Lake”, E.B. notes that “I bought myself a couple of bass hooks… returned to the lake… to revisit old haunts… When the others went swimming my son said he was going in… As he buckled the swollen belt, suddenly my groin left the chill of death (White 464). The essay “Once More to the Lake” brings a significant amount of attention towards the author’s attempt to secure personal satisfaction. It becomes quite obvious in the first few paragraphs, that the main character is on this vacation with his son, to recreate the careless feeling he use to have while vacationing with his dad as a child. Even though E.B. does not come out clearly and say it, the author is chasing some type of nostalgic feeling he clearly needs to feel better about life. On each page, White uses comparison and contrast to explain to the reader how the trip resembles the one he use to experience with his dad. By the end of the reading, the father begins to realize his vacation trip with his son will never be the same as the one he has dreamt about. He is no longer a child who can only notice the positive components of life. At this point, the father is an adult who will never have the innocence he once clung too. It takes some reflection for him to finally realize his place as a father in the situation. Comparison and contrast displays the idea that even though everything may look the same, it does not mean it feels the same. This mode rhetoric reflects back to the theme at the end of essay, as it concludes the author’s failed attempt to find some satisfaction from the
The lake is one symbol that helps illustrate the theme of this story. “The Indians had called it Wakan, a reference to the clarity of its waters” (573). The lake is used in the story to symbolize the narrator’s moral condition. “Greasy Lake was once known for the clarity of its waters but now its fetid and murky, the mud banks glittering with broken glass and strewn beer cans and the charred remains of bonfires” (Grace). What imagery probably stuck in my head the most was "there was a single ravaged island a hundred yards from shore, so stripped of vegetation it looked as if air force had strafed it." as Boyle put it. Throughout the years the lake turned into a party place where wild teens went to drink, smoke pot, and cause trouble. The characters go to “Greasy Lake” because everybody goes there. They wanted to experience the remot...
Yet throughout White’s essay you see how peaceful he keeps the tone the entire time. With the subtle approach White has on the parts of his memories he thoroughly explains to this audience. Look at the melodrama of the storm White uses. While in The Pond the tone is more spiritual and religious. For example in The Pond, Thoreau is using The Pond as a spiritual symbol. Then there is the dominant impression. In both The Ponds and Once More to the Lake they share something. The way they share their views. The views of the memories, environment around them, and the way they felt throughout the entire thing. Once More to the Lake is on the memories surround the lake White has always known of as a boy and that is his dominant
Greasy Lake was once beautiful and clear until the actions of humanity changed it to something that was filled with chaos and destruction. The Native Americans used to call Greasy lake Wakan, which was a reference to its clear waters (Boyle 570). The narrator says that, “Now it was fetid and murky, the mud banks glittering with broken glass and strewn with beer cans and the charred remains of the bonfires” (Boyle 570). The lake acts a symbol because this was where the youth went to party and have the times of their lives. These characters went to Greasy Lake because to them, this was “nature” (Boyle 570). Moreover, the desolate lake could have been a representation of the people who went there in search of fun. The “bad” characters who visited Greasy Lake were associated with the transfiguration of the lake. This once beautiful lake was now a party site which, “…is associated with decay and destruction…”
Richard Wagamese, the author of Indian Horse, uses imagery to convey the emotional state of being of Saul. Wagamese uses detailed descriptive language to entail the peace and reminiscence Saul feels at God’s Lake to the reader. Wagamese writes Saul’s experience re-visiting God’s Lake on page two hundred four as “The smell in the air was rich and earthy, with a wisp of swamp and bog. Dying things and living things together. The air was filled with birdsong. I broke through the trees fifty yards from the foot of the cliff. As I knelt on the stone beach, gazing up at the cliff, the clouds as its upper edge moved as though it was a living being, breathing.” Saul goes back to God’s Lake to understand his roots and happy memories once again. He finds peace within himself and nature. Wagamese conveys Saul’s feelings of nostalgia and peace of being close to his peoples’ land by describing each breathtaking experience he had while taking in his surroundings. The reader feels as though they have been taken into the scene and are taking in the same awe of nature Saul is experiencing. Wagamese also uses imagery to describe the regretful feelings Saul has while departing from the Kellys’ home. On page one hundred seventy-nine Wagamese describes Saul’s regretful departure as “ I stood in the kitchen and looked out to where the boards of the backyard rink sat in the pale
The tone of a piece of literature is directly dependent upon the word choice with which it is written. Word choice factors into the development of an important idea in the text and how that idea is developed throughout the text. The type of word choice used impacts the way with which both the tone and important ideas are developed in writing. The tone of a piece of literature changes with the word choice of the writer of the piece. If the word choice of the writer conveys a certain feeling or emotion, whether it is happy or sad, the tone will be directly impacted by this and changed accordingly.
Didion uses tone to convey her overall meaning. The tone of the essay creates a feeling of contentment and happiness in the reader. Her use of tone is effective because she is able to make a normally depressing topic appear to be happy and almost peaceful. An
In E.B. Whites essay "Once More to the Lake," he states "none of us ever thought there was any place in the world like that lake in Maine." This adds to the because he obviously had a great time by becoming a salt-water man, and returning to the lake summer after summer. Another detail E.B. White gave about the lake is "The lake had never been what you would call a wild lake." I believe he's saying the lake is a peaceful place to maybe relax or hang out. Another detail E.B. White gave about his essay was "The lake was exactly where we had left it, the same number of inches from the dock." In my opinion, he's saying the undisturbed lake never goes out of it's own boundaries; the lake stays put.
In their essays, “The Little Store” and “Once More to the Lake”, Eudora Welty and E. B. White reveal how certain people and places leave an indelible mark on their persons during childhood. The lake and the store are different in terms of place, time, and people; however, they are the same in terms of indelibility.
Throughout the essay, White reminisces his past experience at the lake where he recalls what it felt like to think about girls and how quiet the steamboat ran on the still water while boys would play mandolins and girls would sing (White). These memories allow White to compare his past with the way things are in the present. He realizes that things are slightly more advanced, such as the loudness of the new motorboats. While White notices the slight changes in the environment, he encounters a dual existence where it
Tone creates the attitude when reading the poem by putting ideas into the readers head through the author’s words. Williams paints a picture of “Brueghel’s great picture” (Lines 1,12) with his tone and use of words. Upon seeing the painting the reader can witness the festivities as they are “kicking and rolling about the Fair Grounds, swinging their butts”(Lines 8-9). The reader can also see how the poem is misleading by leaving out all of the people having a great time not dancing but socializing, drinking, and romancing. The tone of the poem creates the festive atmosphere and parts of what the painting displays but does not paint the total picture.
Second, in the poem “Once by the Pacific” there is a lot of nature expressed. Frost changes his nature view from woods to water.