Skunk Hour Quizzes

Skunk Hour Quiz

1 What step does the heiress take to enhance her privacy?
She cuts off all of her relationships with friends and family

She plans to move somewhere more isolated

She lets her house fall into disrepair to discourage visitors

She buys properties surrounding hers
2 Why does the heiress desire privacy?
She has become paranoid in her old age

She is nostalgic for a time when social hierarchies were more prominent

She does not approve of her son's career as a bishop

She has been spurned by an ex-lover
3 What covers Blue Hill?
A foot of snow and ice

A red fox stain

A thick layer of clouds

Dead grass
4 What happens to the millionaire's yawl?
It is auctioned off

He hands it down to his son

It is mysteriously stolen

It sinks at sea
5 The decorator changes the colors in his shop to...
orange

green

red

yellow
6 The skunks search the streets for
Prey to kill

Their lost kittens

Something to eat

The speaker
7 The line "I myself am hell" is a reference to...
Lowell's mentor and friend, Allen Tate

Paradise Lost

Shakespeare's Henry V

The Bible
8 What word does the speaker use to describe the skunk's kittens?
Wreath

Column

Shoal

Stream
9 Which queen does this poem mention by name?
Queen Elizabeth I

Mary, Queen of Scots

Anne Boleyn

Queen Victoria
10 When the speaker looks at lovers in their cars, what does he observe just beyond them?
Nautilus Island

The Trinitarian Church

The ocean

A graveyard
11 The rhyme scheme is very strict and consistent.
n/a

True

False

n/a
12 The song that the speaker hears issuing from a radio says, "Love, O ____ Love"
Ceaseless

Useless

Careless

Crude
13 What does the speaker imagine he does to his "ill-spirit?"
He has its hand to its throat

He submits to its will

He threatens it with an awl

He casts it out of himself
14 Which of the following items does not appear in the decorator's shop?
A cobbler's bench

An awl

An anchor

A fishnet
15 Which word would best describe the decorator?
Withdrawn

Lonely

Motivated

Foolish
16 What structure does the speaker call "chalk-dry and spar"?
His childhood home

Main Street

The Trinitarian Church

The heiress's "Spartan cottage"
17 What about the millionaire does the speaker poke fun at?
His passion for decorating

His perceived stupidity

His clothes

His decadence
18 The first stanza mentions two characters related to the heiress. They are:
Her son and her daughter

Her son and her head farmer

Her son and her deceased husband

Her daughter and her pastor
19 Which of the following characters "seemed to leap from an L. L. Bean catalogue"?
The heiress

A man in one of the love-cars that the speaker observes.

The decorator

The summer millionaire
20 What would the decorator like to leave his career for?
To travel

To be closer to his family

Marriage to a man

A career as a respected artist
21 The speaker feels his "ill-spirit" in:
His blood cells

His reflection

His eyes

His fingertips
22 The skunks' eyes are described as
seething

murky

blinded

moonstruck
23 What season is on its way, according to this poem?
spring

fall

summer

winter
24 The speaker indicates that the decorator finds his work
unfulfilling and unprofitable

fulfilling and profitable

fulfilling but not profitable

profitable but not fulfilling
25 The speaker watches the skunk from
the steps of the Trinitarian Church

his bedroom window

his car

the top of his back steps

Skunk Hour Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Skunk Hour is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Ask Your Own Question

Study Guide for Skunk Hour

Skunk Hour study guide contains a biography of Robert Lowell, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

Read the Study Guide for Skunk Hour…

Essays for Skunk Hour

Skunk Hour essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Skunk Hour by Robert Lowell.

From “Cooked” to “Raw”: Rhyme in Robert Lowell’s Poetry