The Next War Quizzes

The Next War Quiz

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

Death

Nationalism

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

Fight

Struggle

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"
Faster

Longer

Bigger

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

The German army

The citizens of the United States

The antiwar protest movement
6 Who is the speaker of this poem?
President Woodrow Wilson

A soldier

Death

A prisoner of war
7 From which poem is the epigraph to "The Next War" taken?
"Dulce et Decorum Est"

"In Flanders Fields"

"My Papa's Waltz"

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

The "R" consonant

The "N" consonant

The short "E" vowel
9 What is the poem's meter?
Spondaic dimeter

Iambic pentameter

Iambic hexameter

Trochaic pentameter
10 What stance did Wilfred Owen most likely wish to support in this poem?
An anti-censorship stance

An anti-war stance

A religious stance

A patriotic stance
11 The speaker describes Death holding a scythe. What does this image allude to?
The Greek deity Thanatos

The Irish folkloric figure of the banshee

The Hindu god Yama

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

Bombs

Mess-tins

Bullets
13 What do flags symbolize in this poem?
Masculinity

Nationalism

Domestic labor

Surrender
14 Death's breath metaphorically represents which of the following?
The economic destruction caused by war

Trauma

Alcoholism

Chemical weapons
15 Which form does this poem take?
It is an English sonnet

It is an Italian sonnet

It blends elements of the Italian and English sonnet forms

It is a Spenserian sonnet
16 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?
ABBACDDC EFEFGG

ABABCDCDEFEF GG

ABCD ABCD ABCD AD

ABCAABCA BBAABB
17 Why, according to the speaker, will a bigger war soon occur?
Because of pro-war propaganda

Because of humans' tendency towards violence

Because of the onslaught of communism

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?
Anaphora

Synecdoche

Internal Rhyme

Assonance
19 What is the poem's central irony?
Its claim that war is actually peaceful, while peace is psychologically violent

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

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

Its sarcastic repetition of the idea that soldiers should be unpaid volunteers
20 Complete this line: "Our eyes wept, but our courage didn't ____"
Flag

Falter

Shrink

Writhe
21 Why are the poem's sixth and thirteenth lines distinct?
They each diverge from the established rhyme scheme

They are end-stopped

They are written in a different meter than the other lines

They are enjambed
22 Why is the poem's epigraph an understatement?
The speaker doesn't just mean that war is a joke metaphorically—he has actually invented the war for his own amusement

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

There is no understatement in the epigraph

The speaker doesn't just find war to be a joke, but actually is happier at war than he is at home
23 Complete this line: "Out there, we've ____ quite friendly up to Death-"
Strolled

Walked

Reached

Risen
24 What best describes the speaker's relationship to Death?
Seductive and tempting

Familiar and intimate

Distant but friendly

Cold and wary
25 What effect is created by the poem's rhyming of "brags" and "flags"?
It equates nationalism with falsehood and jingoism

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

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

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

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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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