Analysis Of E. B. White's Once More To The Lake

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In E.B. White's personal essay, 'Once More to the Lake,' the lake serves as the setting for both the author's past and present. In his younger days, White tells that his father would take him to the lake every summer. As he grew up, he had a son and explained that he also took him to the same lake as did his father took him to long ago. In the essay, White explained many things about the lake and what changed has overcome it since he has last been there when he was a boy. Such as, the lake's motion, how it looked around the shores, and how it felt to the touch.

Firstly, White explains the lake's motion. As stated in his essay, "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." explains what he sees as he watched the lake and observe how it looks. This was around the time when he and his son were fishing together in a boat on the lake. While trying to catch two pairs of bass, White observed in modest upon the lake and noticed the small waves were the same, which chucked water under the chin of the boat while they fished. The feeling he felt while watching the calm waters of the …show more content…

Sight is one of the five sense White uses to describe his surroundings around the lake. For example, "There were cottages sprinkled around the shores, and it was in farming although the shores of the lake were quite heavily wooded." This quote gives a brief description on what the lake looks like and what surrounds it in his current present position. It was not an entirely new feeling, but in this setting, it grew much stronger. White felt that he was living in a dual existence which meant that he was having flashbacks of his memories of what the lake looked like back in his younger days. On the other hand, another feeling he felt, while remembering his past experiences, was also kind of a sinister and creepy

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