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."

Kick

Fight

Struggle

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

World War II

The Vietnam War

World War I

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

Longer

Greater

Bigger

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

The antiwar protest movement

The soldiers in the war

The citizens of the United States

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

A soldier

President Woodrow Wilson

Death

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

"A Letter Home"

"My Papa's Waltz"

"In Flanders Fields"

"Dulce et Decorum Est"
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 hexameter

Iambic pentameter

Trochaic pentameter

Spondaic dimeter
10 What stance did Wilfred Owen most likely wish to support in this poem?

A patriotic stance

An anti-war stance

An anti-censorship stance

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

The Greek deity Thanatos

The Hindu god Yama

The European image of the Grim Reaper

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

Mess-tins

Bombs

Bullets

Flags
13 What do flags symbolize in this poem?

Surrender

Nationalism

Domestic labor

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

Alcoholism

Trauma

Chemical weapons

The economic destruction caused by war
15 Which form does this poem take?

It is a Spenserian sonnet

It is an English sonnet

It blends elements of the Italian and English sonnet forms

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

ABCD ABCD ABCD AD

ABCAABCA BBAABB

ABABCDCDEFEF GG

ABBACDDC EFEFGG
17 Why, according to the speaker, will a bigger war soon occur?

Because of pro-war propaganda

Because war is necessary to prevent more death

Because of the onslaught of communism

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?

Synecdoche

Anaphora

Internal Rhyme

Assonance
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 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 ____"

Writhe

Shrink

Flag

Falter
21 Why are the poem's sixth and thirteenth lines distinct?

They are enjambed

They each diverge from the established rhyme scheme

They are written in a different meter than the other lines

They are end-stopped
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

Strolled

Risen

Reached
24 What best describes the speaker's relationship to Death?

Familiar and intimate

Seductive and tempting

Cold and wary

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 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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