Advancing in Poetry Advancing in Poetry    

Lesson 21: The Travelling Bear

by Amy Lowell

Performer: Librivox - Alan Davis Drake

Directions

Study the poem for one week.

Over the week:

• Read or listen to the poem.
• Review the synopsis.
• Read about the poet.
• Complete the enrichment activities.

Synopsis

In Amy Lowell's 'The Travelling Bear,' she invites the reader to empathize with a performing bear. To the poem spectators, the performance of the bear is delightful and fun. To the bear, his performance involves only fear and pain.

Concepts

1. Amy Lowell was born in 1874 in Brookline, Massachusetts.

2. Zoom in and find Lowell's state of birth, Massachusetts (MA), on the map of the United States.

3. Lowell was part of an accomplished family. One of her brothers was an astronomer and the other was the president of Harvard University.
4. Growing up, Lowell had a difficult time in school and was a social misfit.
5. Lowell's family didn't believe women should attend college, so she was not college educated.
6. Lowell's poems won her the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry after her death.
7. Lowell died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Brookline, Massachusetts at the age of 51.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Recite Poem Information

Recite the title of the poem and the name of the poet.

Activity 2: Study the Poem Picture

Study the poem picture and describe how it relates to the poem.

Activity 3: Recite the Poem

Practice reciting the poem aloud.

Activity 4: Complete Book Activities   

• Click the crayon above, and complete pages 132-138 of 'Elementary Poetry 4: Advancing in Poetry.'

References

'Amy Lowell.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.