Skunk Hour Quizzes

Skunk Hour Quiz

1 What step does the heiress take to enhance her privacy?
She lets her house fall into disrepair to discourage visitors

She cuts off all of her relationships with friends and family

She plans to move somewhere more isolated

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 red fox stain

Dead grass

A foot of snow and ice

A thick layer of clouds
4 What happens to the millionaire's yawl?
It is auctioned off

He hands it down to his son

It sinks at sea

It is mysteriously stolen
5 The decorator changes the colors in his shop to...
yellow

red

green

orange
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...
Shakespeare's Henry V

Paradise Lost

The Bible

Lowell's mentor and friend, Allen Tate
8 What word does the speaker use to describe the skunk's kittens?
Stream

Wreath

Shoal

Column
9 Which queen does this poem mention by name?
Queen Victoria

Anne Boleyn

Queen Elizabeth I

Mary, Queen of Scots
10 When the speaker looks at lovers in their cars, what does he observe just beyond them?
The ocean

Nautilus Island

A graveyard

The Trinitarian Church
11 The rhyme scheme is very strict and consistent.
n/a

False

True

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

Crude

Ceaseless

Useless
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?
An awl

A fishnet

A cobbler's bench

An anchor
15 Which word would best describe the decorator?
Withdrawn

Motivated

Foolish

Lonely
16 What structure does the speaker call "chalk-dry and spar"?
The Trinitarian Church

His childhood home

Main Street

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

His perceived stupidity

His decadence

His passion for decorating
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"?
A man in one of the love-cars that the speaker observes.

The summer millionaire

The decorator

The heiress
20 What would the decorator like to leave his career for?
A career as a respected artist

To travel

Marriage to a man

To be closer to his family
21 The speaker feels his "ill-spirit" in:
His eyes

His reflection

His fingertips

His blood cells
22 The skunks' eyes are described as
murky

blinded

moonstruck

seething
23 What season is on its way, according to this poem?
summer

winter

fall

spring
24 The speaker indicates that the decorator finds his work
profitable but not fulfilling

fulfilling but not profitable

fulfilling and profitable

unfulfilling and unprofitable
25 The speaker watches the skunk from
the steps of the Trinitarian Church

his car

the top of his back steps

his bedroom window

Skunk Hour Questions and Answers

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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.

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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