Once More to the Lake by E.B. White
Annotate the essay as you read. As always, constantly focus on this question as you
read: What is the purpose or main message of the essay? Also, annotate for the
information listed in the questions and statements below.
1. Note tone shifts throughout the piece; identify the tone when you notice a shift.
2. Note White’s use of such original and creative expressions as “had never had any
fresh water up his nose.” Find and cite a few others.
3. Note White’s selection of details in paragraphs 1 – 6. (Consider his use of the 5
senses as well.) Indicate a few specific examples and explain their effect.
4. Identify two or three examples of figurative language and discuss their purpose.
5. Explain the rhetorical purpose of paragraph 10.
6. Explain the effect of the specificity of the detail in paragraph 11.
7. What has guided White in his selection of the details he gives about the trip?
Why, for example, does he talk about the road, the dragonfly, the boat’s motor?
8. White speaks of the lake as a “holy spot.” What about it was holy? How does he
further develop this idea?
9. Review the essay a second time and count the “and’s” in it. Discuss the effect of
their use.
10. Write your thoughts on the final image of the essay. What rhetorical purpose does
it serve? Go back through the essay and pick out sections, words, or phrases that
seem to prepare for the ending.