English 1A

Fall 2007

Seminar #9

Note:  Your seminar grade will be determined by the quantity of your responses (how many questions you answer and how many other students you respond to) and the quality (how well you demonstrate an understanding of the ideas you're responding to, how detailed your responses are, how coherent and in-depth they are, etc.)

Directions:
1.  Read E.B. White's Once More to the Lake

2. Choose one question and respond with 3-5 paragraphs. Include quotes and/or specific references to the text to back up your responses.

1.  Distortion of Time :Why does White distort time so much in this essay?  What does this distortion tell the audience about White’s state of mind when he visits the lake with his son?

2. Outboard/Inboard: Do you see any symbolic value in the example of the two types of motors in paragraph 10?  How does the example relate to White’s view of his own mortality?

3. A Beloved Place : How can you tell that White loves this place? Point to specific areas and describe how his use of language conveys his emotions and attitudes about this place.

4.  The End :Paragraph 13 ends the essay abruptly, with a sudden change in tone. This ending is jarring for most students, and many don't understand why he would have chosen such an end to this essay. Do you think it was an effective ending? Why might he have chosen to end the essay on such a note?

5. Tone Describe the tone of White’s essay.  How and why does the tone change throughout the essay, and how does the tone help to convey his purpose?

6. Purpose: Why do you think White wrote this essay? What idea/s was he trying to impart to his audience? Do you think he was successful? Why or why not?

3. Save your work as a .doc or .rtf document and submit your response to the Assignment Chamber by midnight on Monday, Nov. 26  

4. Post your responses to the appropriate forum by midnight on Monday, Dec. 4.

5. Read all the other students' posts throughout the week.

6. Respond to at least two other student's post (more is better) .  You will have until midnight, Monday, Dec. 4 to read and respond to the other students' ideas in the website.

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