The Next War Quizzes

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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."

Struggle

Kick

March

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

World War I

The Vietnam War

The Franco-Prussian War

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

Bigger

Faster

Greater

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

The German army

The citizens of the United States

The antiwar protest movement

The soldiers in the war
6 Who is the speaker of this poem?

Death

President Woodrow Wilson

A prisoner of war

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

"A Letter Home"

"Dulce et Decorum Est"

"My Papa's Waltz"

"In Flanders Fields"
8 Which sounds in the line "Death was never enemy of ours" create assonance?

The "N" consonant

The short "E" vowel

The "R" consonant

The "Ou" vowel in "ours"
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?

An anti-censorship stance

A patriotic stance

An anti-war stance

A religious 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 European image of the Grim Reaper

The Hindu god Yama
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

Surrender

Nationalism

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

Alcoholism

The economic destruction caused by war

Trauma

Chemical weapons
15 Which form does this poem take?

It blends elements of the Italian and English sonnet forms

It is an English sonnet

It is a Spenserian sonnet

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

ABCAABCA BBAABB

ABBACDDC EFEFGG

ABCD ABCD ABCD AD

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

Because of pro-war propaganda

Because of the onslaught of communism

Because war is necessary to prevent more death

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

Synecdoche

Anaphora
19 What is the poem's central irony?

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

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
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 written in a different meter than the other lines

They are enjambed

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

Reached

Risen

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

Distant but friendly

Cold and wary

Seductive and tempting

Familiar and intimate
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 equates nationalism with falsehood and jingoism

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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