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

Fight

Kick

Struggle
3 To which real-world war does this poem subtly allude?
World War I

The Franco-Prussian War

World War II

The Vietnam War
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 soldiers in the war

The German army

The citizens of the United States

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

A prisoner of war

Death

A soldier
7 From which poem is the epigraph to "The Next War" taken?
"In Flanders Fields"

"My Papa's Waltz"

"Dulce et Decorum Est"

"A Letter Home"
8 Which sounds in the line "Death was never enemy of ours" create assonance?
The "R" consonant

The short "E" vowel

The "N" consonant

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

Iambic pentameter

Spondaic dimeter

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

An anti-war stance

A patriotic stance

An anti-censorship stance
11 The speaker describes Death holding a scythe. What does this image allude to?
The European image of the Grim Reaper

The Hindu god Yama

The Irish folkloric figure of the banshee

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

Flags

Bombs

Bullets
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 an Italian sonnet

It is an English sonnet

It is a Spenserian sonnet

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

ABBACDDC EFEFGG

ABABCDCDEFEF GG

ABCD ABCD ABCD AD
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 humans' tendency towards violence

Because of pro-war propaganda
18 The "W" sounds in the line "We whistled while he shaved us with his scythe" are an example of which?
Anaphora

Assonance

Internal Rhyme

Synecdoche
19 What is the poem's central irony?
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

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

Flag

Writhe

Falter
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?
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

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

Reached

Strolled

Risen
24 What best describes the speaker's relationship to Death?
Distant but friendly

Seductive and tempting

Cold and wary

Familiar and intimate
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 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 equates nationalism with falsehood and jingoism

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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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