The Next War Quizzes

The Next War Quiz

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

Nationalism

War

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

Fight

Struggle

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

The Franco-Prussian War

World War I

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

Longer

Bigger

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

The citizens of the United States

The soldiers in the war

The German army
6 Who is the speaker of this poem?
A prisoner of war

Death

A soldier

President Woodrow Wilson
7 From which poem is the epigraph to "The Next War" taken?
"My Papa's Waltz"

"A Letter Home"

"In Flanders Fields"

"Dulce et Decorum Est"
8 Which sounds in the line "Death was never enemy of ours" create assonance?
The "Ou" vowel in "ours"

The "N" consonant

The "R" consonant

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

Iambic pentameter

Iambic hexameter

Trochaic pentameter
10 What stance did Wilfred Owen most likely wish to support in this poem?
An anti-censorship stance

A religious stance

A patriotic stance

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

The European image of the Grim Reaper

The Greek deity Thanatos

The Irish folkloric figure of the banshee
12 Which object is used metonymically as well as literally in the poem?
Bullets

Bombs

Flags

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

Nationalism

Masculinity

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

Trauma

The economic destruction caused by war

Chemical weapons
15 Which form does this poem take?
It is a Spenserian sonnet

It is an Italian sonnet

It is an English sonnet

It blends elements of the Italian and English sonnet forms
16 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?
ABBACDDC EFEFGG

ABABCDCDEFEF GG

ABCD ABCD ABCD AD

ABCAABCA BBAABB
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?
Internal Rhyme

Assonance

Synecdoche

Anaphora
19 What is the poem's central irony?
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

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

Shrink

Falter

Writhe
21 Why are the poem's sixth and thirteenth lines distinct?
They are enjambed

They each diverge from the established rhyme scheme

They are end-stopped

They are written in a different meter than the other lines
22 Why is the poem's epigraph an understatement?
There is no understatement in the epigraph

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

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

Reached

Risen

Strolled
24 What best describes the speaker's relationship to Death?
Seductive and tempting

Cold and wary

Familiar and intimate

Distant but friendly
25 What effect is created by the poem's rhyming of "brags" and "flags"?
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 equates nationalism with falsehood and jingoism

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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