The Next War Quizzes

The Next War Quiz

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

Religion

War

Death

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

Kick

Fight

March

Struggle
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"

Longer

Faster

Bigger

Greater
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"

"My Papa's Waltz"

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

The short "E" vowel

The "R" consonant

The "N" consonant

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

Iambic pentameter

Iambic hexameter

Trochaic pentameter

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

A religious stance

An anti-censorship stance

An anti-war stance

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

The Greek deity Thanatos

The Irish folkloric figure of the banshee

The Hindu god Yama

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?

Domestic labor

Surrender

Nationalism

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

Trauma

Chemical weapons

The economic destruction caused by war

Alcoholism
15 Which form does this poem take?

It is an Italian sonnet

It blends elements of the Italian and English sonnet forms

It is a Spenserian sonnet

It is an English sonnet
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 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

Internal Rhyme

Anaphora

Synecdoche
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 ____"

Falter

Flag

Writhe

Shrink
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 find war to be a joke, but actually is happier at war than he is at home

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
23 Complete this line: "Out there, we've ____ quite friendly up to Death-"

Walked

Risen

Strolled

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

Distant but friendly

Cold and wary

Familiar and intimate

Seductive and tempting
25 What effect is created by the poem's rhyming of "brags" and "flags"?

It suggests that flags and other symbols are impolite and boastful to others

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

It equates nationalism with falsehood and jingoism

It hints that flags of surrender as well as those of victory can be forms of bragging

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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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