The Next War Quizzes

The Next War Quiz

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

Religion

War

Nationalism

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

Kick

Struggle

March

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

World War II

The Vietnam War

World War I

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

Greater

Bigger

Longer

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

The soldiers in the war

The citizens of the United States

The antiwar protest movement

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

A soldier

Death

President Woodrow Wilson

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

"My Papa's Waltz"

"In Flanders Fields"

"Dulce et Decorum Est"

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

The short "E" vowel

The "Ou" vowel in "ours"

The "N" consonant

The "R" consonant
9 What is the poem's meter?

Trochaic pentameter

Spondaic dimeter

Iambic pentameter

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

An anti-censorship stance

A patriotic stance

A religious stance

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

The European image of the Grim Reaper

The Greek deity Thanatos

The Irish folkloric figure of the banshee

The Hindu god Yama
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?

Masculinity

Surrender

Nationalism

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

Chemical weapons

Trauma

Alcoholism

The economic destruction caused by war
15 Which form does this poem take?

It is an Italian sonnet

It blends elements of the Italian and English sonnet forms

It is a Spenserian sonnet

It is an English sonnet
16 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?

ABCD ABCD ABCD AD

ABCAABCA BBAABB

ABBACDDC EFEFGG

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

Because of pro-war propaganda

Because of the onslaught of communism

Because of humans' tendency towards violence

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?

Synecdoche

Assonance

Anaphora

Internal Rhyme
19 What is the poem's central irony?

Its claim that war is actually peaceful, while peace is psychologically violent

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

Its surprising assertion that death is not an enemy, but is in fact an ally, during wartime
20 Complete this line: "Our eyes wept, but our courage didn't ____"

Flag

Shrink

Writhe

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

They are written in a different meter than the other lines

They each diverge from the established rhyme scheme

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

There is no understatement in the epigraph

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 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-"

Reached

Strolled

Risen

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

Familiar and intimate

Distant but friendly

Cold and wary

Seductive and tempting
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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