The Next War Quizzes

The Next War Quiz

1 Which is NOT a theme of "The Next War"?

Death

War

Nationalism

Religion
2 Complete this line: "No soldier's paid to ____ against his powers."

March

Struggle

Fight

Kick
3 To which real-world war does this poem subtly allude?

World War II

The Franco-Prussian War

World War I

The Vietnam War
4 Complete this line: "And ____ wars, where each proud fighter brags"

Bigger

Longer

Faster

Greater
5 Who does the poem's first-person plural "we" refer to?

The citizens of the United States

The soldiers in the war

The antiwar protest movement

The German army
6 Who is the speaker of this poem?

President Woodrow Wilson

A prisoner of war

Death

A soldier
7 From which poem is the epigraph to "The Next War" taken?

"My Papa's Waltz"

"Dulce et Decorum Est"

"In Flanders Fields"

"A Letter Home"
8 Which sounds in the line "Death was never enemy of ours" create assonance?

The "R" consonant

The short "E" vowel

The "N" consonant

The "Ou" vowel in "ours"
9 What is the poem's meter?

Spondaic dimeter

Iambic hexameter

Trochaic pentameter

Iambic pentameter
10 What stance did Wilfred Owen most likely wish to support in this poem?

An anti-censorship stance

A religious stance

A patriotic stance

An anti-war stance
11 The speaker describes Death holding a scythe. What does this image allude to?

The Hindu god Yama

The Irish folkloric figure of the banshee

The Greek deity Thanatos

The European image of the Grim Reaper
12 Which object is used metonymically as well as literally in the poem?

Flags

Bombs

Bullets

Mess-tins
13 What do flags symbolize in this poem?

Surrender

Domestic labor

Masculinity

Nationalism
14 Death's breath metaphorically represents which of the following?

Chemical weapons

Trauma

The economic destruction caused by war

Alcoholism
15 Which form does this poem take?

It is an Italian sonnet

It is an English sonnet

It is a Spenserian sonnet

It blends elements of the Italian and English sonnet forms
16 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?

ABCAABCA BBAABB

ABCD ABCD ABCD AD

ABBACDDC EFEFGG

ABABCDCDEFEF GG
17 Why, according to the speaker, will a bigger war soon occur?

Because of the onslaught of communism

Because of humans' tendency towards violence

Because of pro-war propaganda

Because war is necessary to prevent more death
18 The "W" sounds in the line "We whistled while he shaved us with his scythe" are an example of which?

Internal Rhyme

Assonance

Synecdoche

Anaphora
19 What is the poem's central irony?

The speaker's description of a soldier who is going to die, though the soldier himself does not know

Its surprising assertion that death is not an enemy, but is in fact an ally, during wartime

Its sarcastic repetition of the idea that soldiers should be unpaid volunteers

Its claim that war is actually peaceful, while peace is psychologically violent
20 Complete this line: "Our eyes wept, but our courage didn't ____"

Shrink

Falter

Writhe

Flag
21 Why are the poem's sixth and thirteenth lines distinct?

They each diverge from the established rhyme scheme

They are written in a different meter than the other lines

They are end-stopped

They are enjambed
22 Why is the poem's epigraph an understatement?

The speaker doesn't view war as a mere joke, but as a ridiculous and absurd farce

The speaker doesn't just find war to be a joke, but actually is happier at war than he is at home

The speaker doesn't just mean that war is a joke metaphorically—he has actually invented the war for his own amusement

There is no understatement in the epigraph
23 Complete this line: "Out there, we've ____ quite friendly up to Death-"

Risen

Reached

Walked

Strolled
24 What best describes the speaker's relationship to Death?

Distant but friendly

Seductive and tempting

Familiar and intimate

Cold and wary
25 What effect is created by the poem's rhyming of "brags" and "flags"?

It suggests that flags and other symbols are impolite and boastful to others

It equates nationalism with falsehood and jingoism

It hints that flags of surrender as well as those of victory can be forms of bragging

It implies that people should feel proud of their country, no matter where they are from

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Study Guide for The Next War

The Next War study guide contains a biography of Wilfred Owen, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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