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Reading Response - Once More To The Lake

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Reading Response - Once More To The Lake
Bella I. Setiady
Engl-122
Reading Response

Place of Memories
E.B. White described the lake with subjective description that delivered his emotion and impression towards the lake. He wrote “Once More to the Lake” recalling his memories with his father and taking along his son for the first time. The theme of this essay was the passage of time and the changes occurred in the lake. He revealed the differences of the lake and that he himself had changed by time, yet still felt the bond tied between his past existence. By looking at his son, he felt like his son was he and he was his father. White stated, ”I looked at the boy, who was silently watching his fly, and it was my hands that held his rod, my eyes watching. I felt dizzy and didn't know which rod I was at the end of” (28). The feeling of getting older caused him a conflict with himself. He stated, “there had been no years between the ducking of this dragonfly and the other one – the one that was part of memory”. White portrayed the past and present dragonfly to be the evidence that everything remain the same, in spite of the passage of time. In the last paragraph of his essay, he wrote, “I watched him, his hard little body, skinny and bare, saw him wince slightly as he pulled up around his vitals the small, soggy, icy garment. As he buckled the swollen belt, suddenly my groin felt the chill of death”. This sentence explained that his son ascended to the path of maturity and that he felt his death became nearer.

White described the scenery of the lake to be very overwhelming. I found myself wanting to visit the lake after reading his essay. I frequently went on a vacation with my families when I was young. Now that I have grown up, it is very rare to have vacation going to place like that. After reading his essay, I begin to question myself. Did my parents felt the same way as White? In the future, when I have kids, will I collide with the past memories? Will I remember and reminisce the memories
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