The Next War Quizzes

The Next War Quiz

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

War

Religion

Nationalism

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

March

Struggle

Kick

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

The Franco-Prussian War

World War I

World War II

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

Bigger

Longer

Faster

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

The German army

The citizens of the United States

The soldiers in the war

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

President Woodrow Wilson

Death

A soldier

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

"In Flanders Fields"

"Dulce et Decorum Est"

"A Letter Home"

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

The "R" consonant

The "Ou" vowel in "ours"

The short "E" vowel

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

Iambic pentameter

Trochaic pentameter

Spondaic dimeter

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

A religious stance

An anti-war stance

An anti-censorship stance

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

The Irish folkloric figure of the banshee

The European image of the Grim Reaper

The Greek deity Thanatos

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

Bombs

Flags

Mess-tins

Bullets
13 What do flags symbolize in this poem?

Domestic labor

Surrender

Masculinity

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

The economic destruction caused by war

Alcoholism

Trauma

Chemical weapons
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 Italian sonnet

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

ABABCDCDEFEF GG

ABBACDDC EFEFGG

ABCD ABCD ABCD AD

ABCAABCA BBAABB
17 Why, according to the speaker, will a bigger war soon occur?

Because war is necessary to prevent more death

Because of pro-war propaganda

Because of humans' tendency towards violence

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?

Assonance

Internal Rhyme

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

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 ____"

Falter

Writhe

Shrink

Flag
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?

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

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

Risen

Strolled

Reached
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 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

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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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