Analysis of E.B White's "Once More to the Lake

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Memories Bridge the Past with the Present Memories are precious and unique to everyone. Memories remind individuals of who they are and where they came from. The senses, whether it is taste, touch, sight, hearing, or smell, can physically bring back memories. E. B. White, the author of “Once More to the Lake,” and Scott Russell Sanders, the author of “Inheritance of Tools,” recall their memories through the senses. In each essay, both authors are struggling with the present, but look back on the past to help cope with their difficulties. White and Sanders remembrance of the past gives each of them a sense of stability for the present. Memories are a reminiscence of the past and tools to live the present. Although E. B. White and Scott Russell Sanders experienced their memories differently, the two authors both use their recollections of the past as tools to help cope with the present. E. B. White’s return to his childhood vacation spot in “Once More to the Lake,” tells how his trip sent his imagination back in time. As a boy, White and his family would vacation to the lake for the month of August. He and his family would depart from the complexity of everyday life and enjoy the simple life by the lake. Despite getting “ringworm from some kittens,” they “returned summer after summer” because none of them “thought there was any place in the world like that lake in Maine.” White could intensely remember how “the bedroom smelled of the lumber it was made of” and the sight of the “cool and motionless” lake on a clear morning. The lake gave White a sense of security and stability in his life when he was young because year after year it remained the same. Years after his last visit, longing for the security of his lake, White returned with his son. White was struggling with letting go of his child inside of him, and he wanted to experience the

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