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- Naturalist Lens
White writes through a naturalist lens, allowing him to bring dimension to the story and reveal the relationship between father and son. The lake, dragonflies, dusty field, alleys, and farmhouse all contribute to the plot. Without the inclusion of nature in this short story, many events in the story would not have as much significance.
"A thunderstorm came up... It was like the revival of an old melodrama that I had seen long ago with childish awe" (5)
- Sociologist lens
White brings a sociologist perspective to the story. After experiencing the lake with his father, the main character brings his own son to experience the same thing. However, the end of the story (the death) reveals the struggle of facing life and death and the uncertainty carried with it.
"As he buckled the swollen belt suddenly my groin felt the chill of death" (5)

White creates a sense of community in the short story. He describes the missing middle track on the road... Indicating that humans are unable/hesitant to make their own decisions and to have many options (old---new motif***). The "waitresses," "American family at play," and "country girls" all contribute to how the actor is portraying the setting- as a tight knit, yet diverse community. This sociologist lens allows the audience to reflect on the societal structure and development in the short story. (pg 3)

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Summer is a time of youthful freedom and joy.

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boats
In the beginning of the story the narrator talks about the canoe in which his father took him and his siblings on to go fishing. Later in the story the simple canoe turns into the "unfamiliar nervous sounds of the outboard motors" and that those are the boats everyone has now, different from the one's he grew up with. This is the only aspect of the story he speaks about with a negative tone because it's the only part of the story that is unfamiliar and not the exact same as when he was a child

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ghosts/ death
The author, in the first paragraph, refers to re visiting this place he went for summer as "to revisit old haunts" revealing his connotation of going back in time and acknowledging how much older he has gotten as death and something that scares him". This symbol of death carried through the story is also seen in the last line when talking about seeing his son pull off his cold, wet clothes, and feeling that same "chill of death". This "chill of death" on his groin is him realizing his never resting fear of death and time passing on.

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Repetition:
Illusion:
The word illusion is repeated throughout the story to show what the narrator is experiencing and how what he is feeling/seeing is not real. "I began to sustain the illusion that he was I". "There having been no passage of time, only the illusion of it as a dropped curtain..."
Same: The word same is used to emphasize that the narrator feels the exact way that he did as a child when he was experiencing the lake, it creates a constant feeling of nostalgia.
"I felt the same damp moss..." "The small waves were the same..."
Feeling:
"Creepy" The use of the word creepy gives readers the feeling that what the narrator is experiencing is not normal. It gives off the feeling that something is off or not normal with what he is experiencing.
Colloquial:
"Cottages" "tar" "farm wagon"
The use of colloquial diction gives the readers insight into the time period that the narrator is in.

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Parallelism (the use of successive verbal constructions that effect sound, meter, meaning)- "the restlessness of the tides, the fearful cold of the water, the incessant wind"

Juxtaposition- (two things placed close together with contrasting effect)

Anaphora- (repeating a sequence of words at the beginnings of neighboring clauses)

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time :
Time goes on throughout the story, going back to the father's time as a child at the lake and then "once more" with is son. They do the same exact things he did and he feels as if time had not even passed and the "years were just a mirage, and there had been no years". The narrator made time an illusion in his fear of accepting the passing of this time.

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FATHER: used to bring his son to the lake, who has developed a strong connection to the place
SON: feels like his father, in everything that he does now, like he is living a "dual existence"
GRANDSON: his father sees himself in him (his son) and starts to "sustain the illusion" that he (his son) was him, and, by "simple transportation," he was now his father.
*The son mirrors his father, and the grandson mirrors the son (his father).

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Camp on lake: The narrator spent countless summers during his childhood in camp. The setting as a place from his youth contributes to feeling of nostalgia. "...everything was as it always had been, that years were a mirage and there had been no years."

Summertime: Summer is a time of youthful freedom and joy. For the narrator, summer signifies an escape to the carefree joy experienced during his youth. "...those summers had been infinitely precious and worth saving. There had been jollity and peace and goodness."

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1) The narrator describes his joyous time at the lake, which he returned to "summer after summer" as a child.
2)The narrator takes "along [his] son" to the lake, hoping that they can both relive his own childhood at the lake. He contrasts how the lake was in his youth with how the lake has become in his adulthood. He indulges his nostalgia, "remember[ing] one thing that suddenly reminds [him] of another thing" about his lake adventures as a boy. However, he still expects things "to be pretty much the same as...before," with nothing really different from his childhood experiences.
3) While fishing, the sight of a dragonfly signifies to the narrator that "there had been no years" in between his childhood and adulthood, seeing himself as his son: still a child enjoying the lake for the first time. The narrator even imagines that it is "[his] hands that [hold] his [son's] rod."
4) The narrator continues to recount events of the lake and tries to draw the similarities between his last visit and the time the story takes place but finds quite a few differences. The waitresses "were still fifteen" and their "only difference" was their washed hair and the serving of Coca-Cola. Also, people have begun driving their cars to the camp with "no fuss" rather than taking the train and wagon. But it is still the same "constant and trustworthy body of water."
5) It isn't until one particular afternoon, after several days of living through his son and remembering the tales of his boyhood lake adventures, that the narrator sees his son go out to swim with other children and finally realizes that he is an adult, he is a father now, not his son and the lake, while similar to his childhood, has also changed itself.

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Visual Imagery:
"tarred road"
A road that is unkempt is connoted with desolation and loneliness. It is a pavement that is neglected and less travelled, delineating a journey far beyond regular human routine. The rural aspect of the setting contributes to the ability the author has to unwind and self-reflect.
Olfactory Imagery:
"smelled of the lumber"
The whiffs of nature create  the setting of a rural area that is surrounded by flora. Specifically, the natural scents provide a sense of serenity and promote introspection, which the author does in the fiction.
Auditory Imagery:
"Boy sneak quietly"
Quietness continues to add to suspense and also tranquility. Coupled with the natural scene, the soundlessness illuminates the lack of motion or change in the fiction. Ultimately, this helps contribute to the lack of change between the experiences the father has of himself at a young age, and what he sees in his young boy.
Tactile Imagery:
"twigs, smooth and old"
The smoothness and oldness of similar sticks represents the young and the old, ultimately contributing the the greater message of the son being paralleled to the older father.
Gustatory Imagery:
"one was blueberry and one was apple"
When describing pies, emphasizing the sweetness of these delicacies emphasizes the comfort of home and the sweetness of memory. Thus, in this personal reflection, the vibrant tastes parallel the joviality of the author's memories of the lake.

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religious/spiritual:
White refers to the lake as a "holy spot" where it "seemed infinitely remote and primeval". He takes his son back and the time spent with him is spiritual as he get the chance to connect with him in a way that reminds him of how he connected with his own father. He refers to the lake as a "cathedral "(2). This highlights how he views it as his place to connect to his spirituality and share this experience with his own son.
time:
At the beginning of the story, White, begins by sharing his memories from going to the lake with his father. He gets a "feeling so strong" and decided to go back to the lake "to revisit old haunts." He flashes forward with his son and notes that there had "been no passage of time." Everything he remembers form his childhood is repeating itself as he is reliving his fond memories.  He emphasizes that everything had been the "same" and "the years were a mirage and there had been no years". This reveals that White senses a feeling of familiarity and reminisces the good memories with his father and is repeating it with his son.
Technology
White wants to show that the technology can be disruptive and has contributed to the changes at the lake. He highlight the noise and disruptiveness that the new "loud fuss about trunks". Everything about the lake and the people there is nearly identical to the memories he has from his childhood, however the only difference is due to technology made in the time between his childhood and his sons. This topic of technology also connects with the topics of religion and time as White "wonders how time would have marred this unique, this holy spot". Technology is the sole contributor to the changes that have been made since he had visited as a child.

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"The years had been a mirage and there had been no years"

The use of the word "mirage" here in the context of the narrator reminiscing his past summers establishes a construed connotation upon the narrator's reliability. Diction such as "mirage" connotes a blurred out of focus memory.

"Summertime, oh summertime, pattern of life indelible."

The word indelible-meaning to leave a mark -produces a positive, permanent connotation regarding the narrator's experiences during his youthful summer, connoting how his summers left a definite mark on him that will haunt him through the form of nostalgia.

"...This was the American family at play"

The word "American" holds a negative connotation in the perspective of the author, but a positive one in the perspective of the narrator. In describing a "standard" American family, one which holds certain characteristics such as picket white fences and holds barbecues each Sunday, "American" to the narrator holds a positive connotation since he longs for a country that sill holds those values, placing the "American" family on a pedestal. In contrast, through the lens of the author, "American" holds a rather negative connotation, connoting that those who are so invested in attaining past ideals again are incapable of accomplishing societal progress.

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Nostalgic:
-Throughout the story, White thinks back on his childhood remembering his times on the lake with his father.
-"...there having been no passage of time, only the illusion of it as in a dropped curtain..."
-He recollects his thoughts from his youth  at the lake, feeling like time has stood still and nothing has altered, as he recalls his memories and good times spent there.

Reminiscent:
-Through symbols like going fishing, the dragonfly, and the waitress in the story, White lets his mind drift back to his youth as he is reminded of his time at the lake.
-"It is strange how much you can remember about places like that once you allow your mind to return into the grooves which lead back.
-Something that happens in the present can make one remanence on their past and spark the feeling one felt during that moment in time.

Sacred:
-White considers the lake to be his "safe place" or like his "heaven." He feels at home and safe when he returns in the summer as he remembers his "holy spots" at the lake.
-"I wondered how time would have marred this unique, this holy spot - the coves and stream, the hills that the sun set behind, the camps and the paths behind the camps."
-White goes back to the lake wondering if time has changed the places where he feels most sacred and at peace.

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August 1st is the day that the father would always go to the lake with his family. To him, it holds memories of family and his childhood. This day will always be special to him. "We returned summer after summer--always on August 1st for one month. "

Symbol: Fly
The father sees the fly while on the boat with his son and realizes how nothing has changed. The fly symbolizes how the father is reliving his childhood through his son. It also shows how, for him, time has stopped.
"It was the arrival of this fly that convinced me beyond any doubt that everything was as it always had been"

Symbol: Morning
The morning is when the son sneaks out to go out to the boat, just like the father used to do.
It symbolizes how the father is living vicariously through his son and longs for his childhood back. His son is becoming him and the father is becoming his own father.
"I began to sustain the illusion that he was I, and therefore, by simple transposition, that I was my father"

Colleen Henderson