Text 2

Tom Lake

In the 1980s, 24-year-old actress Lara Kenison goes to Tom Lake, Michigan, in order to step in and play the role of Emily in the play Our Town, since the original actress resigned from the role.

Tom Lake turned out to be crushingly pretty. There was a huge covered amphitheater

sunk into the rolling lawns. The musical ran in the amphitheater. They also had a black

box theater where they staged the straight plays like Our Town and Fool for Love.

There were tennis courts with a clubhouse that served iced tea and sandwiches. A smat-

tering of lovely houses – some that had been turned into administrative offices, some

for boarding the actors and designers and technicians, and some where regular people

spent the summer – spread along the shore of a tremendous lake. Fruit trees bloomed,

paths meandered, hills swelled, like someone had clipped pictures out of a pile of

magazines and then glued the very best ones together on a single page. A couple of

miles away was a small town that took most of its annual revenue from the summer

tourists who came to stay in one of the two hotels, have supper, and spend the next

morning wandering through the little shops before coming over with their theater tick-

ets. The most ambitious ones walked in for a show then caught a shuttle bus back. They

wore Tom Lake T-shirts and Tom Lake hats as they paddled rented canoes past the

diving platform and out across the lake.

I had two suitcases and Eric¹ carried the heavier one up to my room in the company

housing, leaving the smaller one for me. The name of the previous Emily was still on

the door. “You won’t understand how nice this is until you’ve seen the other rooms,”

he said.

The room was nice in the same way the best dorm room can seem nice: a double

bed, my own tiny bathroom, and a window that was open and overlooked the lake.

“I’ll have someone bring the schedule by,” he said. “I’m afraid you’re going to have

to hit the ground running.”

I unpacked as soon as he left, hanging up my dresses and putting my shoes in a line

on the closet floor. I arranged my travel clock and a small pile of books on the night-

stand. The girls I’d gone to high school with were married now. They had little houses

in New Hampshire with sofa sets and televisions, forks and knives and spoons, maybe

a kid or two. During those years when they were hanging wallpaper in the nursery, I’d

been living in a furnished studio in Los Angeles, a place that came with everything –

sheets, towels, a dish rack. I had money but no idea of how to spend it, so I didn’t

spend it. I liked the lightness of my life, the feeling that I could leave tomorrow and go

where they needed me: New York, Michigan. Not counting my winter clothes, which

were still in the closet of my grandmother’s spare room, my worldly possessions

amounted to the contents of these two bags, more or less. I hadn’t had any real success

but every one of those high school girls knew about my life, and as much as they may

have had the story wrong, they wished they were me. In their place, I would have

wished I were me, because this unremarkable room with the remarkable view in Mid-

dle-of-Nowhere, Michigan, was everything that had ever been written about freedom

and possibility. I pushed the empty suitcases under the bed with my foot, then stood at

the window staring, thinking how nice it would be to use the word lush again after such

a long time in California. The light was so much softer here, and still so much brighter

than New Hampshire’s. I would send postcards to Charlie² and Ripley³ tomorrow. I

would tell them both how grateful I was, how much I already loved the place.

Eric had left the door to my room open behind him, maybe so I could get a cross

breeze, and when I turned around a tall, slender man was leaning against the doorway.

He had been watching me watch the lake.

“Pretty grand, right?” he said.

He held up a piece of paper. “Schedule,” he said.

“Ah.”

“You can come out or I can come in or I can lay it here on the floor between us.”

He leaned over partway to pantomime his intention. His eyes were dark and overlarge

in his thin face, his black hair long and pushed behind his ears. He stood up suddenly

and very straight, the paper still in his hand. He was wearing a linen T-shirt and very

long surgical scrub pants. “If you invite me in I’ll tell you a story.”

“Come in then,” I said. His ancient espadrilles were dirty and folded at the heels.

“I’ll risk it.”

He smiled.

(786 words)

Ann Patchett, Tom Lake, New York: Bloomsbury 2023

Annotations

1 Eric: Executive Director of the theater company in Tom Lake

2 Charlie: an old friend of the artistic director of the theater company in Tom Lake; encouraged Lara to take on Emily’s role in the play

3 Ripley: Bill Ripley, Charlie’s friend and a director who once gave Lara a part in his movie and directed her on her professional path

Outline what the text reveals about Lara, her lifestyle, and her attitude towards it.

20 %

Analyse how Lara perceives the various facets of Tom Lake and its surroundings. Focus on use of language.

40 %

Choose one of the following tasks:

3.1

“I liked the lightness of my life, the feeling that I could leave tomorrow and go where they needed me […].” (ll. 31/32)

Taking this quotation as a starting point, discuss whether flexibility and independence are the key to a happy life.

3.2

After her first season with the theater company, Lara writes a letter to her mentor Bill Ripley, reflecting on her professional and private experiences in Tom Lake.

Write Lara’s letter.

40 %

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This extract from Ann Patchett’s novel Tom Lake introduces Lara, a 24-year-old actress waiting for her career breakthrough. Currently arriving in Michigan for a summer theater role, her life is defined by mobility and minimalism. Supported by her mentors, she travels with only two suitcases, preferring furnished apartments over permanent homes.

Her lifestyle stands in sharp contrast to that of her former high school classmates, who are settling down with houses, marriages, and traditional household items. Lara, however, shows no interest in material possessions or settling down. Instead, she embraces the "lightness" of her existence. She views her lack of physical roots not as a burden, but as the ultimate freedom, allowing her to remain independent and ready for any professional opportunity that comes her way.

Lara’s perception of Tom Lake is highly subjective, blending her professional ambition with a deep appreciation for the environment's beauty and her own sense of independence. The setting is immediately introduced through exaggerated, overwhelmingly positive imagery. Calling the area "crushingly pretty" (l. 1) is a hyperbolic statement that underscores Lara's intense first impression. She views the landscape as an almost artificial paradise, likening it to a collage perfectly glued together from "the very best [pictures]" of a magazine (ll. 8-9). Active verbs ("bloomed," "meandered," "swelled", ll. 7-8) infuse the natural surroundings with life and energy, while the contrast of the light being "softer" yet "brighter" than in New Hampshire (ll. 41-42) proves how much she prefers this new environment. Beyond nature, Lara observes the town’s commercial and professional infrastructure. Her detailed listing of the theater's facilities (cf. ll. 1-5) and the repetitive anaphora structure ("some [...], some [...], and some", ll. 5-7) show that she recognizes the place as a bustling, well-organized professional hub. She also views the tourists with gentle irony, affectionately mocking "the most ambitious ones" (l. 13) who walk to the theater in their repetitive "Tom Lake T-shirts and Tom Lake hats" (l. 14). Yet, the most significant linguistic shift happens when she describes her own living quarters. The parallel structure of her unpacking routine ("I unpacked [...], hanging up my dresses and putting my shoes in a line", ll. 24-25) demonstrates how quickly she makes the space her own. Finally, the antithesis contrasting her "unremarkable room" with the "remarkable view" (l. 37) perfectly captures her priorities: she cares little for material luxury. Instead, metaphorically describing the space as the embodiment of "freedom and possibility" (ll. 38-39) reveals that Tom Lake has become a profound symbol of her desired lifestyle.

3.1

The Balance Between Roots and Wings

In the excerpt, Lara finds happiness in the "lightness of [her] life" (l. 31), valuing the freedom to pack up her two suitcases and chase new theatrical dreams at a moment's notice. While unattached independence is deeply liberating and exciting, declaring it the universal key to a happy life is a massive oversimplification. True, lasting fulfillment usually requires a careful balance between personal freedom and emotional belonging. There is immense value in flexibility, especially in one's youth. The ability to pivot—whether that means changing a university major, moving to a foreign country, or taking a risky career opportunity—fosters self-discovery and resilience. People who remain unburdened by strict long-term commitments or heavy mortgages are often better equipped to adapt to our rapidly changing modern society. They can easily seize opportunities that a more settled person might have to decline. However, perpetual independence can easily morph into isolation. Human beings are fundamentally social creatures wired for connection. A life spent constantly on the move makes it incredibly difficult to cultivate deep, enduring friendships or build a supportive family unit. During times of personal crisis or stress, it is rarely our freedom that comforts us; rather, it is the people we can implicitly rely on. Furthermore, the idea that routine and stability are inherently restrictive is a modern misconception. For many people, having a permanent home, a predictable daily routine, and a steady community is not a trap, but a comforting foundation that provides peace of mind. Returning to familiar surroundings after a long journey is a joy in itself. Ultimately, happiness is found in the middle ground: having the "wings" to explore the world and pursue our ambitions, while also nurturing the "roots" of lasting human relationships.

3.2

Dear Ripley,

As my first season here at Tom Lake draws to a close, I find myself thinking of you. You were the one who encouraged me to take this leap, and I wanted to write and say thank you. When I first arrived with my two suitcases, I viewed this simply as another stepping stone in my career. I never expected it to change me as much as it has.

Professionally, the experience has been incredibly rewarding. Working alongside such dedicated actors has taught me more about discipline and stagecraft than I ever thought possible. There were definitely moments of doubt where I felt like an imposter, but pushing through them helped me find a new level of confidence. I finally understand what you meant about acting being a constant journey of growth, rather than just a search for applause.

But the biggest changes happened off-stage. You know how much I prided myself on my "lightness"—the freedom of having no ties and being able to leave at a moment's notice. At first, the quiet of Tom Lake was almost deafening compared to L.A. But slowly, that silence gave me the space to breathe. I stopped worrying constantly about my next audition and just allowed myself to exist in the present.

More surprisingly, I actually let people in. I came here thinking this was strictly temporary, but I’ve found friends who make this place feel like a real home. It turns out that being independent doesn't have to mean being alone.

I’ve just signed on for another season. Thank you for pushing me toward an experience I would never have chosen for myself. It’s given me exactly what I didn't know I needed.

With endless gratitude,

Lara

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