On Golden Pond was an award winning film from 1981 starring Henry Fonda, Katherine Hepburn and Jane Fonda. Norman, a retired professor, and his wife Ethel, summered on Golden Pond, a lake in New Hampshire. In this scene, Ethel hears the loons soon after arriving in their car. After cleaning up the house a bit, they take the canoe out for a ride on the lake and see the loons again. A motor boat comes rather close to the loons and their canoe and both Norman and Ethel tell them to "buzz off." This is a good story to help recall personal experiences, feelings or associations of a summer retreat, summer vacation, a cabin on a lake. But you can also restrict your conversation to the things you notice in the story itself: the car, the woods, the lake, the wildlife, the loons, the cabin, the motorboat and the canoe, for example.
You can use this story to talk about Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn or the film. This is the best story from the film to help recall personal stories about a summer retreat, summer vacation, a cabin on a lake. Consider talking about how these things make you feel. What is it like paddling a canoe out into a lake? And finally, there are things you can simply notice and describe in the story: the car, the woods, the wildlife, the loons, the cabin and the canoe.
This is also a fine story to talk about the character: Who are Norman and Ethel? What are they like? You don't have to know anything or remember anything of the film to see that Norman is negative and crabby and Ethel is positive and cheerful. What else did you notice? How are they dressed? Did you notice that Norman wore his bow tie out into the lake? Did you see how well Ethel moved in the canoe? How did Norman feel when Ethel moved? How about the sounds of the birds, the lake, the sound of the paddle hitting the aluminum canoe and the ripple of the water on the paddles and canoe?
Maybe you can associate other thoughts, ideas and memories with these characters?
Did you notice how Norman was comforted when he did eventually see the loons? They appreciated the birds very much.
What did you think about Norman's and Ethel's rude gestures at the end of the story? Have you experienced the rivalry between powerboats and canoes, kayaks or sailboats? How did Ethel's gesture make you feel? What about Norman's?
