The Next War Quizzes

The Next War Quiz

By Eleanor Stern · Edited by James Cooper · Last reviewed July 12, 2021

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

War

Nationalism

Religion

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

World War I

The Vietnam War

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

Longer

Faster

Greater

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

The German army

The antiwar protest movement

The citizens of the United States

The soldiers in the war
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?

"Dulce et Decorum Est"

"A Letter Home"

"In Flanders Fields"

"My Papa's Waltz"
8 Which sounds in the line "Death was never enemy of ours" create assonance?

The "N" consonant

The "R" consonant

The "Ou" vowel in "ours"

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

Spondaic dimeter

Trochaic pentameter

Iambic hexameter

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

A patriotic stance

An anti-censorship stance

A religious stance

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

The Irish folkloric figure of the banshee

The Greek deity Thanatos

The European image of the Grim Reaper

The Hindu god Yama
12 Which object is used metonymically as well as literally in the poem?

Bombs

Mess-tins

Flags

Bullets
13 What do flags symbolize in this poem?

Masculinity

Domestic labor

Nationalism

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 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?

ABBACDDC EFEFGG

ABCD ABCD ABCD AD

ABCAABCA BBAABB

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

Because of humans' tendency towards violence

Because war is necessary to prevent more death

Because of pro-war propaganda

Because of the onslaught of communism
18 The "W" sounds in the line "We whistled while he shaved us with his scythe" are an example of which?

Synecdoche

Assonance

Internal Rhyme

Anaphora
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

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

The speaker's description of a soldier who is going to die, though the soldier himself does not know
20 Complete this line: "Our eyes wept, but our courage didn't ____"

Writhe

Shrink

Flag

Falter
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 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

The speaker doesn't view war as a mere joke, but as a ridiculous and absurd farce
23 Complete this line: "Out there, we've ____ quite friendly up to Death-"

Walked

Strolled

Reached

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

Distant but friendly

Familiar and intimate

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 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

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

The Next War Questions and Answers

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

Ask Your Own Question

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.

Read the Study Guide for The Next War…