Suicide in the Trenches Quizzes

Suicide in the Trenches Quiz

1 What collection was this poem published in?
Counter-Attack and Other Poems

Sequences

Memoirs of an Infantry Officer

The War Poems of Siegfried Sassoon
2 What is the main idea in the poem?
War is wrong.

Everyone's innocence is impacted during times of war.

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.
3 Whose suicide is recounted?
The old soldier's

The young soldier's

The speaker's

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

Iambic tetrameter

Blank verse

Free verse
5 How is the young soldier referred to in the first line?
naive young man

innocent youthful lad

simple soldier boy

supple soldier boy
6 Which best characterizes the young soldier before the war?
Wealthy, privileged, and optimistic

Innocent, naive, optimistic

Naive, weak, and happy

Happy, unwilling, and rich
7 What happens after the soldier commits suicide?
No one speaks of him again

His parents come claim the body

His friends grieve for the rest of their lives

He is memorialized
8 Which best characterizes the tone of the middle stanza?
Pensive, compassionate, and remorseful

Abrupt, bitter, and angry

Abrupt, blunt, and tragic

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

Four tercets

Three quatrains

Three tercets
10 Finish this quote: "Who grinned at life__"
in full-blown joy

in mocking joy

in empty joy,

in longing joy
11 Why might the dark be characterized as "lonesome"?
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 young soldier, 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?
You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye

With crumps and lice and lack of rum

Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,

He put a bullet through his brain
13 Who is being criticized in the poem?
The general public

The British war officials

The soldier's family only

The Germans
14 What does the poet suggest that war does to innocence?
Extinguish childlike innocence and wonder

Extinguish youth and laughter

Embellishes it

Strengthen it
15 What sentiment does this poem express?
Shell shock

War Frenzy

Patriotism

Anti-war
16 What is shell shock?
The sound the shells make as they explode

A traumatic condition caused by experiencing direct warfare

A synonym for crumps

The feeling of missing a family member fighting in the war
17 Why might the crowds be smug-faced?
They love and support the soldiers

They themselves fought and survived a war

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

To be treated like an animal

To be milked for what you have

frightened by threats, violence, superior strength or ability
19 Which is an example of alliteration?
In winter trenches, cowed and glum

Sneak home and pray you'll never know

I knew a simple soldier boy

Who cheer when soldier lads march by
20 What is alliteration?
a type of metaphor

(of a word, syllable, or line) have or end with a sound that corresponds to another

the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words

the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humor or emphasis
21 How does the poem reflect Sassoon's experience?
Sassoon was among the general public cheering soldiers on from the home front.

Sassoon treated his friends for shell shock

Sassoon enlisted and quickly became disillusioned by his experiences fighting in the war.

Sassoon eventually committed suicide
22 Why might the soldier never be spoken of again?
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.

It was too tragic for people to want to talk about
23 Which line interrupts the regular meter?
In winter trenches, cowed and glum,

The hell where youth and laughter go.

Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,

No one spoke of him again.
24 How does the above line interrupt the regular meter?
It begins with a trochee

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

It is in iambic pentameter

It is missing a syllable
25 What is the overall tone?
Reflective, gloomy, and sad

Sad, optimistic, and memorable

Heated, angry, and bitter

Sad, critical, and bitter

Suicide in the Trenches Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Suicide in the Trenches is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Ask Your Own Question

Study Guide for Suicide in the Trenches

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.

Read the Study Guide for Suicide in the Trenches…

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