Suicide in the Trenches Quizzes

1 What collection was this poem published in?

The War Poems of Siegfried Sassoon

Memoirs of an Infantry Officer

Counter-Attack and Other Poems

Sequences
2 What is the main idea in the poem?

Everyone's innocence is impacted during times of war.

War is wrong.

The fact that war traumatizes and alters people is something that the general public does not want to know about.

Military officials send young men to their deaths while they remain safely behind.
3 Whose suicide is recounted?

The speaker's

The young soldier's

The enemy's

The old soldier's
4 What is the poem's meter?

Iambic pentameter

Free verse

Blank verse

Iambic tetrameter
5 How is the young soldier referred to in the first line?

innocent youthful lad

simple soldier boy

supple soldier boy

naive young man
6 Which best characterizes the young soldier before the war?

Naive, weak, and happy

Innocent, naive, optimistic

Happy, unwilling, and rich

Wealthy, privileged, and optimistic
7 What happens after the soldier commits suicide?

He is memorialized

His parents come claim the body

His friends grieve for the rest of their lives

No one speaks of him again
8 Which best characterizes the tone of the middle stanza?

Pensive, compassionate, and remorseful

Compassionate, remorseful, and wondering

Abrupt, bitter, and angry

Abrupt, blunt, and tragic
9 Describe the poem's stanzas.

Four tercets

Four quatrains

Three quatrains

Three tercets
10 Finish this quote: "Who grinned at life__"

in empty joy,

in longing joy

in mocking joy

in full-blown joy
11 Why might the dark be characterized as "lonesome"?

The speaker is aware of the sadness in the world, which the young soldier, in his innocence, is unaware of.

The speaker is aware of the sadness in the world, which the poet, in his innocence, is unaware of.

Sassoon is aware of the sadness in the world, which the young boy, in his innocence, is unaware of.

The young soldier is aware of the sadness in the world, which the speaker, in his innocence, is unaware of.
12 Which line defines the conditions in the trenches?

He put a bullet through his brain

You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye

Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,

With crumps and lice and lack of rum
13 Who is being criticized in the poem?

The Germans

The British war officials

The soldier's family only

The general public
14 What does the poet suggest that war does to innocence?

Extinguish youth and laughter

Extinguish childlike innocence and wonder

Embellishes it

Strengthen it
15 What sentiment does this poem express?

Patriotism

Shell shock

Anti-war

War Frenzy
16 What is shell shock?

The sound the shells make as they explode

The feeling of missing a family member fighting in the war

A synonym for crumps

A traumatic condition caused by experiencing direct warfare
17 Why might the crowds be smug-faced?

They love and support the soldiers

Propaganda has led them to believe that victory is guaranteed

They know the soldiers will fight for their country

They themselves fought and survived a war
18 Define "cowed"

a fully grown female animal of a domesticated breed of ox, kept to produce milk or beef

frightened by threats, violence, superior strength or ability

To be treated like an animal

To be milked for what you have
19 Which is an example of alliteration?

Who cheer when soldier lads march by

I knew a simple soldier boy

In winter trenches, cowed and glum

Sneak home and pray you'll never know
20 What is alliteration?

(of a word, syllable, or line) have or end with a sound that corresponds to another

a type of metaphor

the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words

the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humor or emphasis
21 How does the poem reflect Sassoon's experience?

Sassoon treated his friends for shell shock

Sassoon enlisted and quickly became disillusioned by his experiences fighting in the war.

Sassoon eventually committed suicide

Sassoon was among the general public cheering soldiers on from the home front.
22 Why might the soldier never be spoken of again?

Symptoms of psychological stress were seen by some as evidence of treason and shame.

His family forbade anyone from talking about it

Everyone else secretly struggled with the same urge

It was too tragic for people to want to talk about
23 Which line interrupts the regular meter?

Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,

In winter trenches, cowed and glum,

The hell where youth and laughter go.

No one spoke of him again.
24 How does the above line interrupt the regular meter?

It is in iambic pentameter

It is missing a syllable

It begins with a trochee

It does not begin with an iamb, and is missing a syllable
25 What is the overall tone?

Sad, optimistic, and memorable

Heated, angry, and bitter

Reflective, gloomy, and sad

Sad, critical, and bitter

Suicide in the Trenches Quiz

Essays for Suicide in the Trenches