E.B. White Rhetorical Essay

In E.B. White’s essay, “Once More to the Lake,” he expresses his memories of the lake and the highlights of his life. Throughout the reading he draws a parallel between his childhood and his the future. E.B. White accomplishes his effectiveness by using rhetorical devices such as, personification, countless polysyndeton, myriad anastrophe and vivid imagery. White gives personification to items such as the tides, the cold, the water and the wind. For instance, “I have seen a salt-water man, […] restlessness of the tides and the fearful cold of the sea water and the incessant wind that blows […]” (paragraph 1) shows human-like characteristics. The personification makes the essay more dramatic and interesting and also helps the reader relate more to the item. Another main reason is because people relate easily to objects with human aspects.
White constantly utilizes the literary device polysyndeton, especially “and” which is used most in paragraph 10. The conjunction “and” adds emphasis on the reader by slowing down the sentence, an irregular structure, and also emphasizes each words character. Furthermore, his use of anastrophe throughout the essay helps the imagery he creates in paragraph 2 describing an early morning. Also, making the reader feel like they’re there at the location with their five senses their. The imagery and use of anastrophe makes the reader visualize what is being spoken about and may give a clue the tone, mood or attitude of the author connecting the reader to the author.
Therefore, E.B. Whites use of rhetorical devices help the reader focus, and pay attention to the point. The personification, polysyndeton, anastrophe and imagery assist the reader to think critically about the thing the author is taking about. All in all, E.B. White is successful in achieving his effectiveness to the readers.