The Next War Quizzes

The Next War Quiz

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

Death

Religion

War

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

March

Fight

Kick

Struggle
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"

Bigger

Faster

Longer

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 German army

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

A soldier

Death

A prisoner of war

President Woodrow Wilson
7 From which poem is the epigraph to "The Next War" taken?

"My Papa's Waltz"

"A Letter Home"

"Dulce et Decorum Est"

"In Flanders Fields"
8 Which sounds in the line "Death was never enemy of ours" create assonance?

The "R" consonant

The "Ou" vowel in "ours"

The "N" consonant

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

Spondaic dimeter

Trochaic pentameter

Iambic pentameter

Iambic hexameter
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 European image of the Grim Reaper

The Irish folkloric figure of the banshee

The Hindu god Yama

The Greek deity Thanatos
12 Which object is used metonymically as well as literally in the poem?

Bombs

Bullets

Mess-tins

Flags
13 What do flags symbolize in this poem?

Masculinity

Surrender

Nationalism

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

Trauma

Alcoholism

Chemical weapons

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

It is a Spenserian sonnet

It blends elements of the Italian and English sonnet forms

It is an English sonnet

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

ABCAABCA BBAABB

ABABCDCDEFEF GG

ABCD ABCD ABCD AD

ABBACDDC EFEFGG
17 Why, according to the speaker, will a bigger war soon occur?

Because war is necessary to prevent more death

Because of humans' tendency towards violence

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?

Internal Rhyme

Assonance

Anaphora

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

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
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 are end-stopped

They are enjambed

They are written in a different meter than the other lines

They each diverge from the established rhyme scheme
22 Why is the poem's epigraph an understatement?

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 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
23 Complete this line: "Out there, we've ____ quite friendly up to Death-"

Reached

Risen

Strolled

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

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

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…