English Final The McGraw-Hill Reader employs an exceptional role at embellishing the array of deeper questioning and controversies that people will experience throughout their lives. Two of the pieces it contains, Once More to the Lake, by E.B. White; and Salvation, by Langston Hughes serve as prime examples of the anthology’s ability to highlight these greater questions of humanity. While both essays act as commentaries on important aspects of one’s life, E.B. White’s narrative, Once More to the Lake, presents a multifaceted theme and composition more superior than Hughes’ simple, lesson-imparting piece. Employing the rhetorical mode of narration and description, White illustrates and provides examples as he tells his story of revisiting a camp as an adult with his son where he and his own father vacationed in days past. White finds himself fighting an internal struggle between viewing the lake as he did when he was a young and viewing the camp as a grown adult, or through the eyes of his …show more content…
father. Primarily, the essay deals with themes of mortality and the change of time, and its effects on White’s perception of the present and his childhood resort. White has cleverly organized his essay non-linearly and non-chronologically, which serves as a compositional irony when juxtaposed with the thematic content of his piece. White fears death and the hand of time; he approaches the lake with nostalgia, yet becomes fully aware of his mortality. Through his sensory details, White’s assessment of time’s passing becomes clear; it seems that not long ago his father brought him to the lake to enjoy the summer, and not White bringing his own son. Hughes, whose essay also uses the rhetorical mode of narration and description, similarly challenges his readers to question certain qualities of humanity, though not as effectively as does White. In Salvation, only the irony of the title underlines the essay’s issue of one’s expectation leading to his or hers disappointment, and not the entire composition. Hughes develops his essay in chronological order; his prose shows cause and effect, Hughes challenging the legitimacy of his religion after an adult claims that Jesus will save him. When Hughes is not saved, he feigns his salvation after another boy does the same. Imparting a simpler theme and method of paragraph development than Once More to the Lake, Hughes’ experience describes the trauma that occurs when emotions conflict and the effect of societal pressure. Hughes’ childhood experience causes him to question certain aspects of morality; however, White goes deeper; his childhood experience causes him to question the greater meaning of life. I once read a poem, “My Son, My Executioner,” whose speaker, Donald Hall, writes how his son’s life served as a harbinger to his own death.
The poem aligns perfectly with White’s themes of appreciating one’s own life as it exists and remaining aware of death’s approach. White states, “I watched him [his son], his hard little body, skinny and bare, saw him wince slightly as he pulled around his vitals the small, soggy, icy garment. As he buckled the swollen belt suddenly my groin felt the chill of death” (237). At this moment, White glimpses the decay of his own life in his son’s liveliness. Clearly, the intimate and harrowing observations that White provides surpass the childhood experience of Hughes. Life and death provide meaning that any reader can relate to; however, Hughes topic of religion serves a less than universal role. Although their abilities to describe and narrate stand on similar grounds, White’s use of diction better embellishes the crucial message of his
piece. Both Once More to the Lake and Salvation deal with childhood experiences. Despite this, through the written experiences of White and Hughes, the authors have challenged their readers to confront and study the circumstances surrounding their lives. While Hughes can relate to his audience through a painful childhood experience, White uses his childhood as a device to assess a universally human quality. White assesses his past, present, and future, and his assessment goes far beyond questioning the legitimacy of a manmade faith.
In the essay “Once More to the Lake,” E.B. White, uses diction and syntax to reveal the main character’s attitude towards the lake in Maine. He has an uncertain attitude towards the lake throughout the essay because he is unsure of who he is between him and his son. On the ride there White, pondering, remembering old memories, keeps wondering if the lake is going to be the same warm place as it was when he was a kid. The lake is not just an ordinary lake to White, it’s a holy spot, a spot where he grew up every summer. “I wondered how time would have marred this unique, this holy spot-the coves and streams, the hills that the sun set behind, the camps and the paths behind the camps” (29). White’s diction and syntax
My initial response to the poem was a deep sense of empathy. This indicated to me the way the man’s body was treated after he had passed. I felt sorry for him as the poet created the strong feeling that he had a lonely life. It told us how his body became a part of the land and how he added something to the land around him after he died.
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.
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 mortality.
Once More to the Lake and The Pond. White and Thoreau, two diverse minds. When you look into their writings you seem to find something that rises to your attention, some of what you see seems to fit into the others writing. Yet taking a closer look you see that they are not particularly saying the same thing. Is it because they felt like writing or did something cause these writers to exploit there minds and make something out of their thoughts? Every sentence and every word say something much deeper. When reading these writings you have to look deep within the writing. You begin to notice you are reading something quite fascinating.
Edward Taylor’s Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children and Upon a Wasp Chilled with Cold are similar in their approach with the illustration of how beautiful and magnificent God’s creations are to humankind. However, each poem presents tragic misfortune, such as the death of his own children in Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children and the cold, enigmatic nature of human soul in Upon a Wasp Chilled with Cold. Taylor’s poems create an element of how cruel reality can be, as well as manifest an errant correlation between earthly life and spiritual salvation, which is how you react to the problems you face on earth determines the salvation that God has in store for you.
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
Edward Taylor’s Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children and Upon a Wasp Chilled with Cold are similar in their approach with the illustration of how beautiful and magnificent God’s creations are to humankind. However, each poem presents tragic misfortune, such as the death of his own children in Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children and the cold, enigmatic nature of human soul in Upon a Wasp Chilled with Cold. Both poems create an intriguing correlation between earthly life and spiritual salvation while maintaining the element of how cruel reality can be. Both poems manifest a correlation between earthly life and spiritual salvation, which is how you react to the problems you face on Earth, determines your spiritual karma and the salvation that God has in store for you.
Death has feelings as much as any human, imagining, getting bored, distracted, and especially wondering (350, 243, 1, 375 respectively). Odd, one could say for an eternal metaphysical being. But then again, not that queer once having considered how Death spends his time. He is there at the dying of every light, that moment that the soul departs its physical shell, and sees the beauty or horror of that moment. Where to a human witnessing a death first hand (even on a much more detached level than our narrator) can easily be a life changing event, Death is forced to witness these passings for nearly every moment of his eternal life. Emotional overload or philosophical catalyst? Death gains his unique perspective on life through his many experiences with the slowly closing eyelids and muttered last words. Yet in this...
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.
At a glance, the poem seems simplistic – a detailed observance of nature followed by an invitation to wash a “dear friend’s” hair. Yet this short poem highlights Bishop’s best poetic qualities, including her deliberate choice in diction, and her emotional restraint. Bishop progresses along with the reader to unfold the feelings of both sadness and joy involved in loving a person that will eventually age and pass away. The poem focuses on the intersection of love and death, an intersection that goes beyond gender and sexuality to make a far-reaching statement about the nature of being
I will discuss the similarities by which these poems explore themes of death and violence through the language, structure and imagery used. In some of the poems I will explore the characters’ motivation for targeting their anger and need to kill towards individuals they know personally whereas others take out their frustration on innocent strangers. On the other hand, the remaining poems I will consider view death in a completely different way by exploring the raw emotions that come with losing a loved one.
The speaker started the poem by desiring the privilege of death through the use of similes, metaphors, and several other forms of language. As the events progress, the speaker gradually changes their mind because of the many complications that death evokes. The speaker is discontent because of human nature; the searching for something better, although there is none. The use of language throughout this poem emphasized these emotions, and allowed the reader the opportunity to understand what the speaker felt.
Once more to the lake by E. B, White is an easily readable piece and his diction is simplistic. His life story includes descriptionns and well explained imagery of white’s past and present memories which makes it easy to read and understand. In this piece, you can also see that the author is suceesful in creating an interesting and moving piece aboout memory. White’s theme is some how more illusive. In his retrospectio, you can see how he explains memories of how a son and father live the American dream, a vacation. Also, you can see how he uses short sentences to descripe his past and present memories. He also uses repetition to emphasize the feelings he his experiences at the lake. Recalling back on childhood memories, the author remember
Critical Essays on Langston Hughes.