What is the summary of Once More to the Lake?

E.B. White’s essay Once More to the Lake, first published in 1941, describes his experience as he revisits a childhood lake in Maine. This revisiting is a journey in which White delights in memories associated with his childhood and the lake. In effect, his mindset transforms to go back to his childhood.

What does Once More to the Lake say about identity?

Throughout the essay, White describes a dual existence that he experiences when spending time with his son at the lake. This dual existence is apparent whenever White has a hard time distinguishing himself from his own son. In some ways, White is lost to the setting, suffering an identity crisis.

What does the lake symbolize in Once More to the Lake?

In contrast to the sea, the lake is calm and everlasting. It is presented as the embodiment of White’s childhood memories themselves and, in returning to the lake, White feels that he is literally reliving his childhood memories.

What does the ending of Once More to the Lake mean?

In the essay “Once More to the Lake”, E. B. White ends with a mystifying sentence, “As he buckled the swollen belt, suddenly my groin felt the chill of death.” He uses this puzzling conclusion as a metaphor for his sudden realization that he could not escape from time and his confrontation with mortality.

What is the theme of the essay Once More to the Lake?

The theme of White’s essay is the passage of time and the changes that it brings. Returning to the lake after many years with his son, Joe, White confronts multiple changes as he struggles with the illusion that the idyllic world of his childhood, and his present existence within it, remain the same.

Do you think White expects the ending of his essay to surprise his audience explain?

The ending of the essay does not come as a surprise. White has spend most of the essay talking about the lake’s changes and the passage of time; to reflect upon the passage of time in relation to himself and to take the step to reflect upon his mortality is a natural progression.

What ideas and images does White repeat throughout his essay?

White emphasizes his feelings of living through his son repeatedly throughout the essay. He also often writes about his sense that no time has passed since the last time he was at the lake, when he was still a child. He does this to show the lake’s importance to him as a representation of his childhood.

How are the writer and his son alike How are they different?

Explanation. He and his son are alike in their shared experience of going to the same lake and enjoying the same activities while there, but different in that they are from different generations. White feels that he is living a dual existence because he sees so much of his past self in his son.

What is the stand of the writer?

A thesis statement is the basic stand that an author takes, the opinion that he expresses, and the major point that he wishes to make about his subject. It contains the controlling idea of the essay, and therefore, gives the direction and the unity to all the separate elements of the writing.

How did the writer show the conclusion?

Include a brief summary of the paper’s main points, but don’t simply repeat things that were in your paper. Instead, show your reader how the points you made and the support and examples you used fit together. Pull it all together.

How does the author support his argument?

There are three major ways that authors present an argument: Reasoning, in which the author presents a logical explanation of the argument. Evidence, in which the author presents statistics, facts, and studies to prove his point. Appeal, in which the author appeals to the reader’s emotions to elicit empathy.

What is the conclusion of the story?

What is a conclusion? It is the end of the story or solution to the problem. The readers should be reminded of the main idea and feel that the story has come a full circle with an ending.

What is the claim of the author?

Author’s claim is honorable presentation of an author that he makes in his writing – to some person or his memory, group of people, establishment or even abstract idea. As it is seen from one epigram of Martialis, such statements were known back in Roman times.

What is the main argument of the author?

claim
The claim is the author’s main argument—what the author wants you to do, think, or believe by the time you finish reading the text. The content is the evidence which provides the support and reasoning upon which the claim is built.

How does the writer end the essay?

Conclude by linking the last paragraph to the first, perhaps by reiterating a word or phrase you used at the beginning. Conclude with a sentence composed mainly of one-syllable words. Simple language can help create an effect of understated drama.

What is the main purpose of the author?

An author’s purpose is his reason for or intent in writing. An author’s purpose may be to amuse the reader, to persuade the reader, to inform the reader, or to satirize a condition.