Once More to the Lake- E.B. White

Once More to the Lake is structured by the use of time. E.B. White is able to portray his past and present within his writing by reliving his past through his son. Throughout the essay, we are able to decipher that the presence of the lake was located in an ancient time. White is able to explain his memories at the lake and the things he used to do with is father. White is able to reminisce back to the days when he was the same age as his son at the lake. Throughout the writing, we can see that there is no order to the way the essay is written, due to the fact that White goes from the past and present. White uses memories from when he was a child, and believes that he is his son at the lake, while White represents his father in the past. At times throughout the passage, reality strikes in and White recognizes that he is at the lake with his own son.


As the essay proceeds, we can see that E.B. White is struggling with the way the lake has started to develop and the way many things have changed since the last time he was present there. White talks about how technology has greatly impacted the ways of the lake. The loud motors on the boats start to disrupt the peace that was once present across the lake. He also recalls on the fact that cars have changed the paths of roads that you can follow. He shows that the once farmland and isolated life around the lake is slowly started to come to an end. At the end of the passage, we can notice that White is struggling with moving on. Time has gone by and he has started to grow old. He is no longer in the presence of himself as a kid, but rather an adult that realizes he has moved on through the years.