E.B. Whites Drafts of Once More to the Lake

At the start of every fall term, countless students are asked to write an essay on what must be the most uninspired composition topic of all time: How I Spent My Summer Vacation. Still, its remarkable what a good writer can do with such a seemingly dull subject--though it may take a bit longer than usual to complete the assignment. In this case, the good writer was E.B. White, and the essay that took more than a quarter century to complete was Once More to the Lake. First Draft: Pamphlet on Belgrade Lake (1914) Back in 1914, shortly before his 15th birthday, Elwyn White responded to this familiar topic with uncommon enthusiasm. It was a subject the boy knew well and an experience that he fiercely enjoyed. Every August for the past decade, Whites father had taken the family to the same camp on Belgrade Lake in Maine. In a self-designed pamphlet, complete with sketches and photos, young Elwyn began his report clearly and conventionally This wonderful lake is five miles wide, and about ten miles long, with many coves, points and islands. It is one of a series of lakes, which are connected with each other by little streams. One of these streams is several miles long and deep enough so that it affords an opportunity for a fine all-day canoe trip. . . .The lake is large enough to make the conditions ideal for all kinds of small boats. The bathing also is a feature, for the days grow very warm at noon time and make a good swim feel fine. (reprinted in Scott Elledge, ​E.B. White: A Biography. Norton, 1984) Second Draft: Letter to Stanley Hart White (1936) In the summer of 1936, E. B. White, by then a popular writer for The New Yorker magazine, made a return visit to this childhood vacation spot. While there, he wrote a long letter to his brother Stanley, vividly describing the sights, sounds, and smells of the lake. Here are a few excerpts: The lake hangs clear and still at dawn, and the sound of a cowbell comes softly from a faraway woodlot. In the shallows along shore the pebbles and driftwood show clear and smooth on bottom, and black water bugs dart, spreading a wake and a shadow. A fish rises quickly in the lily pads with a little plop, and a broad ring widens to eternity. The water in the basin is icy before breakfast, and cuts sharply into your nose and ears and makes your face blue as you wash. But the boards of the dock are already hot in the sun, and there are doughnuts for breakfast and the smell is there, the faintly rancid smell that hangs around Maine kitchens. Sometimes there is little wind all day, and on still hot afternoons the sound of a motorboat comes drifting five miles from the other shore, and the droning lake becomes articulate, like a hot field. A crow calls, fearfully and far. If a night breeze springs up, you are aware of a restless noise along the shore, and for a few minutes before you fall asleep you hear the intimate talk between fresh-water waves and rocks that lie below bending birches. The insides of your camp are hung with pictures cut from magazines, and the camp smells of lumber and damp. Things dont change much. . . .(Letters of E.B. White, edited by Dorothy Lobrano Guth. Harper Row, 1976) Final Revision: Once More to the Lake (1941) White made the return journey in 1936 on his own, in part to commemorate his parents, both of whom had recently died. When he next made the trip to Belgrade Lake, in 1941, he took along his son Joel. White recorded that experience in what has become one of the best-known and most frequently anthologized essays of the past century, Once More to the Lake: We went fishing the first morning. I felt the same damp moss covering the worms in the bait can, and saw the dragonfly alight on the tip of my rod as it hovered a few inches from the surface of the water. It was the arrival of this fly that convinced me beyond any doubt that everything was as it always had been, that the years were a mirage and there had been no years. The small waves were the same, chucking the rowboat under the chin as we fished at anchor, and the boat was the same boat, the same color green and the ribs broken in the same places, and under the floor-boards the same fresh-water leavings and debris--the dead hellgrammite, the wisps of moss, the rusty discarded fishhook, the dried blood from yesterdays catch. We stared silently at the tips of our rods, at the dragonflies that came and went. I lowered the tip of mine into the water, pensively dislodging the fly, which darted two feet away, poised, darted two feet back, and came to rest again a little farther up the ro d. There had been no years between the ducking of this dragonfly and the other one--the one that was part of memory. . . . (Harpers, 1941; reprinted in One Mans Meat. Tilbury House Publishers, 1997) Certain details from Whites 1936 letter reappear in his 1941 essay: damp moss, birch beer, the smell of lumber, the sound of outboard motors. In his letter, White insisted that things dont change much, and in his essay, we hear the refrain, There had been no years. But in both texts, we sense that the author was working hard to sustain an illusion. A joke may be deathless, the lake may be fade-proof, and summer may seem to be without end. Yet as White makes clear in the concluding image of Once More to the Lake, only the pattern of life is indelible: When the others went swimming my son said he was going in too. He pulled his dripping trunks from the line where they had hung all through the shower, and wrung them out. Languidly, and with no thought of going in, 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. To spend almost 30 years composing an essay is exceptional. But then, you have to admit, so is Once More to the Lake. Postscript (1981) According to Scott Elledge in E.B. White: A Biography, on July 11, 1981, to celebrate his eighty-first birthday, White lashed a canoe to the top of his car and drove to the same Belgrade lake where, seventy years before, he had received a green old town canoe from his father, a gift for his eleventh birthday.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass - 1401 Words

Slavery: A Lifelong Escape To say that slavery only affects slaves is inaccurate; it dehumanizes the slaveholders too. Some of the slaveholders were sympathetic, innocent human beings. They were not automatically corrupt just because they owned a slave. Rather, slavery changed their actions and characters from merciful to vicious. In his autobiographical novel, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Douglass reveals how the act of owning slaves turns many dignified human beings into barbarians. Slavery’s wicked nature turns slaveholders into monsters. Sophia Auld, one of Douglass’ masters, had been ignorant of slavery before she owned slaves, but it did not take long for slavery to degrade her character. When†¦show more content†¦This further proves that owning slaves turns an innocent person into a preposterous slaveholder. Before, she treated Douglass like a human being, but now she treats him like an object. Due to slavery, Mrs. Auld’s kind personality has changed into a demonic one. Ultimately, Douglass is saying that when a person becomes a slaveholder, there is no turning back because slavery’s cruelness will always dominate their minds. As slavery overpowers Mrs. Auld’s being, she treats Douglass barbarically. Mrs. Auld deprives Douglass of his right to read and explodes with rage whenever she sees him with a newspaper in his hands: â€Å"The tender heart became stone, and the lamblike disposition gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness†¦ I have had her rush at me with a face made all up of fury, and snatch from me a newspaper, in a manner that fully revealed her apprehension† (Douglass 82). Sophia Auld started out as a caring human being, but now she becomes almost like an animal; she becomes dehumanized by owning a slave. She wants to keep Douglass uneducated and worthless so that he will keep obeying her and will not try to escape. Douglass, in his speech What To the Slave Is the Fourth of July, describes the barbaricShow MoreRelatedNarrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass987 Words   |  4 PagesLife of Frederick In the â€Å"narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass an American slave written by himself† Frederick reveled to audience the time he was living as a slave and the moments of brutal treats for example psychological, emotional and physical abuses. He was suffering terrible moments during his 20 years as a slave in the twentieth century. In addition, he describes in his own words the strategies he used to escape from the slave holders and to be free. This story the â€Å"Narrative of theRead MoreNarrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Essay1102 Words   |  5 PagesDate Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Writing in the favor of black people has always remained controversial from the very beginning. 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In â€Å"The Blessings of Slavery†, by George Fitzhugh he states that southern slavesRead MoreNarrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass1257 Words   |  6 PagesBook Review By Mary Elizabeth Ralls Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass: An autobiography written by Frederick Douglass Millennium publication, 1945edition 75 pages Frederick Douglass whose real name was Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey approximately birthdate is in1818, the month or day is not known, he died in 1895. He is one of the most famous advocates and the greatest leaders of anti-slavery in the past 200 or so years.Read MoreNarrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass1730 Words   |  7 PagesOne of the most well-known slavery narratives was lived and written by Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass was a civil rights activist who was born into slavery on a plantation in eastern Maryland in February 1818. His exact birth date is unknown, he states in his narrative, â€Å"I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it.†2 His birth name was Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, which was given by hisRead MoreNarrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Essay1498 Words   |  6 Pagessoutherners believed that one of the most essential me ans of life was slavery. In the novel, Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass challenges and debunks the idea of slavery being a necessary part of the white lifestyle; many pro-slavery arguments consisted of religion justifying slavery, slaves being â€Å"easily manipulated†/ignorant, and slavery keeping the southern economy from disappearing (The Proslavery Argument). Frederick uses personal experiences and other tactics to expose theRead MoreThe Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass1363 Words   |  6 Pages In The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass portrays the importance of education because of its influence in leveling the playing field between the races in the 1800s. Education and knowledge are themes that are heavily dwelled upon throughout the novel, inspiring the reader to see the full power of such important ideals and to take the full advantage of both at all times. Douglass gives the reader a new appreciat ion for education as he delivers his message regardingRead MoreNarrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass1255 Words   |  6 PagesFrederick Douglass, throughout Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, uses religion to get many of his points across. In one way, religion plays a huge role in Douglass’ ability to become literate throughout the text. With the Bible and other Christian texts, Douglass is able to further his ability and the ability of others to read. This becomes important because as Douglass points out the slaveholders believe a literate slave is not a good slave. This union of literacy and religion show theRead MoreThe Narrative Life Of Frederick Douglass1583 Words   |  7 Pages‘The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass’ is an autobiography of Frederick Douglass, the slave who escaped and became one of renowned social reformers of his time. The book is a collection of actual experiences of the author during his time in slavery and experienc es of fellow slaves. He describes brilliantly the oppressive conditions into which he was born, lived, as well as his struggles and triumphs. The author meant to make the reader comprehend life of the African Americans in slavery beforeRead MoreThe Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass939 Words   |  4 PagesRevolutionary Freedom In 1845, an African-American man named Frederick Douglass released a thought-provoking autobiography that would become a turning point in revolutionary change. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass was the first autobiography Douglass had written focusing on the real life struggles he has faced during his time spent in bondage. During his time, it was not common for an African-American to have the skills to read and write, and it was especially uncommon to publish

Analysis of Cartoon Cultures in Walt Disney Stories Free Essays

Disney and his studio do not only aim to create entertainment but present a meaningful thesis as well; â€Å"All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them† (Williams Denney, 2004, p. 69). Usually, Disney’s stories like to present the royal romance comprising of love, courage and dream. We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis of Cartoon Cultures in Walt Disney Stories or any similar topic only for you Order Now By comparing Cinderella (Geronimi, Luske, Jackson, 1950) and his latest princess iteration, The Princess and The Frog (Clements, 2009), we could clearly see the critical influence of Cinderella that has affected the cartoon culture of Disney’s stories, as highlighted by the appearance of the Fairy Godmother, the importance of animal characters and the narrative power of the songs. Many of Disney’s stories are concerned with a goal that the leading character has to achieve, passing obstacles along the way in order to realize his dream. As such, a correlation can be seen between Cinderella (1950) and The Princess and The Frog (2009); both the young ladies work very hard to achieve their aspirations. Before Cinderella was transformed by Fairy Godmother with an opportunity to attend the royal ball, she was a poor girl, and seemingly under distress. Her stepmother and stepsisters take over all her benefits and mistreat her. She is abused and made to serve as the housekeeper and maid for her family. However, she does not give up on dreaming and wishing, and has faith that one day her dream will come true. On the other hand, Tiana is a poor African-American young lady who works very hard to accomplish her goal of owning a restaurant in New Orleans. Although, her dream seems big and difficult for her to achieve, she never thinks about giving up. She continues tracing her dream; her hopes remain high even after she is accidently transformed into a frog by kissing the cursed Prince Naveen. Although these two Disney princesses are coming from different nationalities and generations, they both represent the same story structure of Disney’s fairytales. Secondly, Disney’s Cinderella has become the dominant version in Western culture, since it was the first one to be aired on the big screen. It was the first time a character like the Fairy godmother was presented straight from a Disney tale. Her task was strictly to prepareeverything for Cinderella so she could attend the royalty ball. The story of Cinderella has historically portrayed a strong character in the Fairy godmother; a prominent companion has become an important element in the life of a cheerful heroine in the follow up stories of Disney. Looking into The Princess and The Frog (Clements, 2009)Mama Odie is representing a new type of Fairy godmother as a blind voodoo priestess. She plays a guiding role in the story, full of magic and power to help the frogs transform back into humans. The Fairy godmother has thus become an iconic character since it was first presented in Cinderella. It plays an important part in shaping the cartoons’ structures, influencing many other stories to portray the same character in other forms, enriching the story with color and inspiration. Thirdly, by featuring animal characters in Cinderella, Disney and his animators have developed a new structure of cartoon culture. Animal characters have carved a niche in Disney’s animations. However, these animal characters only play supporting or minor roles in the full-length animated films. Due to the strong connection between animal characters and Disney’s animations in the public’s mind, Disney and his animators have recently inclined towards creating much more detailed versions of the animal characters found in Cinderella. As a result, the mice have gained more screen time than the step-mother and sisters, and one of the most memorable scenes in the film regarding the manufacturing process of the ball dress revolves aroundbirds and mice which work together to prepare a beautiful gown for Cinderella. This scene appears for nearly 8 minutes in the film. It shows the importance of animals in story-telling. Moreover, those animals carry their own personality, as seen for example in the red bird who would much enjoyperforming a vocal accommodation where as the character Jaq, who was portrayed as a leader of the mice while Gus was the cute and childish one. Moreover, the relationship between Cinderella and the mice provided clues to reveal her real personality. Her kindness could be observed through her interest in making clothes and dresses for the animals, rescuing them from traps, and feeding them with enough food. As such, in the story of Cinderella, animals do not feature as minor characters. They are highlighted to be very important in the narrative. Since that story, animal characters have moved up in ranks, taking important roles as support for the main characters in reaching their goals. In The Princess and The Frog (Clements, 2009)those small animal characters follow Cinderella’s tradition in that they play important roles as support for the frogs so they could return to their human forms, carrying their own personality and dreams. For example, Ray is a firefly, who knows Mama Odie and agrees to help the frogs find her and nearly sacrifices himself fighting with Dr. Facilier. From his lover to the star, we can see that his personality is very gentle and kind. Moreover, Louis is a friendly neurotic alligator, who dreams to become human and joins a jazz band as the trumpet player. He is not just a background image and accompanies the frogs in their adventure. Their appearances make the narratives to be more balanced, completed and interesting. Thanks to the success of theanimal characters in Cinderella, animal characters have continued to play an important role in developing plots and, in turn, have had stories revolve around them instead of the other way round. Lastly, over the years Disney’s animations have developed an indivisible relationship with songs and musical elements. Songs provide a useful tool to breathe more definition into the characters. For example, in Cinderella, the song â€Å"A Dream is A Wish Your Heart Makes† (Geronimi, Luske, Jackson, 1950), we can observe that Cinderella is faced with many obstacles, but her dream is still kept alive in her heart, thanks to her positive attitude. This way, songs contain the power of presenting deeper content, which normal speech may not effectively communicate. Besides, the audience can see and feel the threat pertaining to the character of Dr. Facilier, for example, by virtue of the song â€Å"Friends on the Other Side† (Clements, 2009). Walt Disney has seemingly pioneered the tradition of using songs and music to replace boring conversations, because the song can portray an idea in much more detail. For example, the Fairy godmother’s song â€Å"Bibidi-Bobidi-Boo† (Geronimi, Luske, Jackson, 1950), played when she transforms the pumpkin into a coach, the mice into a horse, and Cinderella’s appearance for the ball, etc. relayed a magical element only music could provide. The song, in this context, is a much more powerful tool to present the idea than normal speech, because it gives the audience an extra vocal dimension to remember the scene with, adding to the visual impact. Moreover, the songs and music also add to the dynamics of the picture in order to present the inner meaning of the stories. By comparing the versions of â€Å"Sing Sweet Nightingale† (Geronimi, Luske, Jackson, 1950) as sung by Cinderella and her stepsisters, we can see the difference in nature of both parties, Cinderella being the gentler much more caring personality. At another instance, we can see a deeper relationship between the frogs, through the song Never knew I Needed, instead of simply saying, I think I am falling in love with you (Clements, 2009). It surrounds the narrative with a profundity in an implicit way. Disney’s animation, hence, really has the ability to capture the fantasy-oriented imagination of the audience providing entertainment both for the adults and children alike. Incorporating these qualities into Disney’s cartoon culture has enabled the creation of some of the most excellent pieces of animated and other motion-picture films that history has ever seen. How to cite Analysis of Cartoon Cultures in Walt Disney Stories, Papers

Gerhard Richter free essay sample

This paper looks at the life of German artist Gerhard Richter. This paper examines the contributions of Gerhard Richter detailing with the different stages of his life, beginning with his involvement in Hitler Youth during WWII, his involvement in East German politics which enabled him to move to West Berlin before the Berlin Wall went up. Richter painted, but he used photographs as the basis for many of his works which are abstract in nature. The writer uses several examples of Richters works to illustrate how he was constantly questioning the role of modernity in art and life. Richter asks us again and again in his work to question these ideas, to ask if modernity in either art or life is precisely what it makes itself out to be. Modernity is a trope, an idea that a group of thinkers made up to try to understand what life meant in an age in which the machines had finally won, in which not only the heavy lifting would be done by mechanical devices but also the thinking would be done by computers and the art would be made by machines with no eyes. We will write a custom essay sample on Gerhard Richter or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Work and freedom mean very different things in a world of machines, and modernity is above all else an attempt to come to an understanding of the relationship between the human body and the machine.