The Next War Quizzes

The Next War Quiz

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

Religion

Death

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

March

Kick

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

World War II

The Franco-Prussian War

World War I
4 Complete this line: "And ____ wars, where each proud fighter brags"
Bigger

Longer

Greater

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

The soldiers in the war

The antiwar protest movement

The citizens of the United States
6 Who is the speaker of this poem?
A prisoner of war

Death

President Woodrow Wilson

A soldier
7 From which poem is the epigraph to "The Next War" taken?
"My Papa's Waltz"

"Dulce et Decorum Est"

"A Letter Home"

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

The "R" consonant

The short "E" vowel

The "Ou" vowel in "ours"
9 What is the poem's meter?
Iambic hexameter

Spondaic dimeter

Iambic pentameter

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

An anti-censorship stance

An anti-war stance

A religious 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

Flags

Bullets

Mess-tins
13 What do flags symbolize in this poem?
Surrender

Masculinity

Domestic labor

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

Chemical weapons

The economic destruction caused by war

Trauma
15 Which form does this poem take?
It is an Italian sonnet

It blends elements of the Italian and English sonnet forms

It is an English sonnet

It is a Spenserian sonnet
16 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?
ABCAABCA BBAABB

ABBACDDC EFEFGG

ABCD ABCD ABCD AD

ABABCDCDEFEF GG
17 Why, according to the speaker, will a bigger war soon occur?
Because war is necessary to prevent more death

Because of the onslaught of communism

Because of pro-war propaganda

Because of humans' tendency towards violence
18 The "W" sounds in the line "We whistled while he shaved us with his scythe" are an example of which?
Assonance

Synecdoche

Anaphora

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

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
20 Complete this line: "Our eyes wept, but our courage didn't ____"
Writhe

Flag

Shrink

Falter
21 Why are the poem's sixth and thirteenth lines distinct?
They are written in a different meter than the other lines

They are end-stopped

They are enjambed

They each diverge from the established rhyme scheme
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

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

There is no understatement in the epigraph
23 Complete this line: "Out there, we've ____ quite friendly up to Death-"
Strolled

Risen

Reached

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

Seductive and tempting

Distant but friendly

Cold and wary
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

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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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