Suicide in the Trenches Quizzes

Suicide in the Trenches Quiz

1 What collection was this poem published in?
Sequences

Counter-Attack and Other Poems

The War Poems of Siegfried Sassoon

Memoirs of an Infantry Officer
2 What is the main idea in the poem?
War is wrong.

Military officials send young men to their deaths while they remain safely behind.

The fact that war traumatizes and alters people is something that the general public does not want to know about.

Everyone's innocence is impacted during times of war.
3 Whose suicide is recounted?
The enemy's

The speaker's

The old soldier's

The young soldier's
4 What is the poem's meter?
Iambic pentameter

Blank verse

Free verse

Iambic tetrameter
5 How is the young soldier referred to in the first line?
innocent youthful lad

supple soldier boy

naive young man

simple soldier boy
6 Which best characterizes the young soldier before the war?
Innocent, naive, optimistic

Wealthy, privileged, and optimistic

Happy, unwilling, and rich

Naive, weak, and happy
7 What happens after the soldier commits suicide?
No one speaks of him again

His parents come claim the body

He is memorialized

His friends grieve for the rest of their lives
8 Which best characterizes the tone of the middle stanza?
Abrupt, bitter, and angry

Abrupt, blunt, and tragic

Pensive, compassionate, and remorseful

Compassionate, remorseful, and wondering
9 Describe the poem's stanzas.
Four quatrains

Three quatrains

Four tercets

Three tercets
10 Finish this quote: "Who grinned at life__"
in empty joy,

in mocking joy

in longing joy

in full-blown joy
11 Why might the dark be characterized as "lonesome"?
The speaker is aware of the sadness in the world, which the young soldier, in his innocence, is unaware of.

The young soldier is aware of the sadness in the world, which the speaker, in his innocence, is unaware of.

Sassoon is aware of the sadness in the world, which the young boy, in his innocence, is unaware of.

The speaker is aware of the sadness in the world, which the poet, in his innocence, is unaware of.
12 Which line defines the conditions in the trenches?
Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,

He put a bullet through his brain

With crumps and lice and lack of rum

You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
13 Who is being criticized in the poem?
The general public

The Germans

The soldier's family only

The British war officials
14 What does the poet suggest that war does to innocence?
Extinguish youth and laughter

Strengthen it

Embellishes it

Extinguish childlike innocence and wonder
15 What sentiment does this poem express?
Anti-war

Shell shock

Patriotism

War Frenzy
16 What is shell shock?
A traumatic condition caused by experiencing direct warfare

A synonym for crumps

The feeling of missing a family member fighting in the war

The sound the shells make as they explode
17 Why might the crowds be smug-faced?
They themselves fought and survived a war

They love and support the soldiers

They know the soldiers will fight for their country

Propaganda has led them to believe that victory is guaranteed
18 Define "cowed"
a fully grown female animal of a domesticated breed of ox, kept to produce milk or beef

frightened by threats, violence, superior strength or ability

To be treated like an animal

To be milked for what you have
19 Which is an example of alliteration?
In winter trenches, cowed and glum

I knew a simple soldier boy

Who cheer when soldier lads march by

Sneak home and pray you'll never know
20 What is alliteration?
the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words

a type of metaphor

the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humor or emphasis

(of a word, syllable, or line) have or end with a sound that corresponds to another
21 How does the poem reflect Sassoon's experience?
Sassoon enlisted and quickly became disillusioned by his experiences fighting in the war.

Sassoon was among the general public cheering soldiers on from the home front.

Sassoon eventually committed suicide

Sassoon treated his friends for shell shock
22 Why might the soldier never be spoken of again?
It was too tragic for people to want to talk about

His family forbade anyone from talking about it

Everyone else secretly struggled with the same urge

Symptoms of psychological stress were seen by some as evidence of treason and shame.
23 Which line interrupts the regular meter?
No one spoke of him again.

In winter trenches, cowed and glum,

Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,

The hell where youth and laughter go.
24 How does the above line interrupt the regular meter?
It is missing a syllable

It is in iambic pentameter

It does not begin with an iamb, and is missing a syllable

It begins with a trochee
25 What is the overall tone?
Heated, angry, and bitter

Reflective, gloomy, and sad

Sad, optimistic, and memorable

Sad, critical, and bitter

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Suicide in the Trenches study guide contains a biography of Siegfried Sassoon, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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Essays for Suicide in the Trenches

Suicide in the Trenches essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Suicide in the Trenches by Siegfried Sassoon.

The Essential Nature of Change and Transitions in The Story of Tom Brennan, "Suicide in the Trenches," and Other Sources