The Next War Quizzes

The Next War Quiz

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

Death

Religion

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

March

Fight

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"
Greater

Faster

Longer

Bigger
5 Who does the poem's first-person plural "we" refer to?
The citizens of the United States

The antiwar protest movement

The soldiers in the war

The German army
6 Who is the speaker of this poem?
Death

A prisoner of war

A soldier

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

"In Flanders Fields"

"A Letter Home"

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

The "N" consonant

The "Ou" vowel in "ours"

The "R" consonant
9 What is the poem's meter?
Spondaic dimeter

Iambic hexameter

Iambic pentameter

Trochaic pentameter
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 Hindu god Yama

The Greek deity Thanatos

The Irish folkloric figure of the banshee

The European image of the Grim Reaper
12 Which object is used metonymically as well as literally in the poem?
Mess-tins

Bullets

Bombs

Flags
13 What do flags symbolize in this poem?
Nationalism

Surrender

Masculinity

Domestic labor
14 Death's breath metaphorically represents which of the following?
The economic destruction caused by war

Trauma

Alcoholism

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

It is an English sonnet

It is an Italian sonnet

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

ABBACDDC EFEFGG

ABCAABCA BBAABB

ABABCDCDEFEF GG
17 Why, according to the speaker, will a bigger war soon occur?
Because of the onslaught of communism

Because of pro-war propaganda

Because of humans' tendency towards violence

Because war is necessary to prevent more death
18 The "W" sounds in the line "We whistled while he shaved us with his scythe" are an example of which?
Internal Rhyme

Synecdoche

Anaphora

Assonance
19 What is the poem's central irony?
Its sarcastic repetition of the idea that soldiers should be unpaid volunteers

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 claim that war is actually peaceful, while peace is psychologically violent
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 each diverge from the established rhyme scheme

They are enjambed

They are written in a different meter than the other lines

They are end-stopped
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-"
Reached

Risen

Strolled

Walked
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 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

It implies that people should feel proud of their country, no matter where they are from

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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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