Matthew Arnold – The Scholar-Gipsy – Exam Based MCQs
1. The Scholar-Gipsy is written by: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Alfred Tennyson
B) Matthew Arnold
C) Robert Browning
D) Thomas Hardy
Ans: B) Matthew Arnold
2. The poem was published in: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) 1798
B) 1811
C) 1847
D) 1853
Ans: D) 1853
3. The Scholar-Gipsy first appeared in Arnold’s volume titled: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Poems (1853)
B) New Poems (1867)
C) Poems by Two Brothers (1827)
D) Lyrical Ballads (1798)
Ans: A) Poems (1853)
4. The poem is based on an Oxford story found in a work by: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Thomas Gray
B) Samuel Johnson
C) Joseph Glanvill
D) John Milton
Ans: C) Joseph Glanvill
5. Glanvill’s story about the scholar-gypsy is in: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Religio Medici
B) The Vanity of Dogmatizing
C) The Advancement of Learning
D) Utopia
Ans: B) The Vanity of Dogmatizing
6. The “scholar” in the poem is described as leaving university to join: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Sailors
B) Soldiers
C) Monks
D) Gypsies
Ans: D) Gypsies
7. A common description of the poem’s genre is: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Elegy / topographical poem
B) Epic in verse
C) Dramatic monologue
D) Mock-heroic satire
Ans: A) Elegy / topographical poem
8. The poem is strongly associated with landscape and place around: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Paris
B) Dublin
C) Oxford / its countryside
D) Rome
Ans: C) Oxford / its countryside
9. The opening address in the poem is to a: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Sailor
B) Shepherd
C) Lawyer
D) King
Ans: B) Shepherd
10. The poem is often read as expressing Arnold’s criticism of: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Medieval chivalry
B) Seafaring trade
C) Tropical exploration
D) Modern restlessness / “disease” of modern life
Ans: D) Modern restlessness / “disease” of modern life
11. The scholar-gypsy is admired mainly for: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Single-minded pursuit and calm purpose
B) Love of city politics
C) Greed for wealth
D) Military heroism
Ans: A) Single-minded pursuit and calm purpose
12. A key contrast in the poem is between: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Science and superstition only
B) War and peace
C) The calm quest of the scholar vs. restless modern crowds
D) Comedy and tragedy in theatre
Ans: C) The calm quest of the scholar vs. restless modern crowds
13. The poem is best known for its: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Detective plot
B) Reflective tone + detailed rural description
C) Political speech format
D) Comic farce scenes
Ans: B) Reflective tone + detailed rural description
14. The speaker often treats the scholar-gypsy as: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) A confirmed villain
B) A comic fool
C) A war general
D) A legend/figure of ideal escape
Ans: D) A legend/figure of ideal escape
15. The poem’s setting and movement are strongly “topographical,” meaning: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) It maps/evokes real places and landscapes
B) It stays only inside a castle
C) It takes place on the sea
D) It happens only in a courtroom
Ans: A) It maps/evokes real places and landscapes
16. A companion-piece often linked with The Scholar-Gipsy is: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Dover Beach
B) Sohrab and Rustum
C) Thyrsis
D) Ulysses
Ans: C) Thyrsis
17. The poem is written mainly in: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Rhyming couplets throughout
B) Blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter)
C) Limerick form
D) Haiku stanzas
Ans: B) Blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter)
18. The poem’s mood can best be described as: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Purely comic
B) Purely heroic
C) Only celebratory
D) Melancholic and meditative
Ans: D) Melancholic and meditative
19. A central idea in the poem is the search for: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Meaning and stability in a changing world
B) A hidden treasure map
C) A legal inheritance
D) A political crown
Ans: A) Meaning and stability in a changing world
20. The scholar-gypsy is portrayed as avoiding: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Rural landscapes
B) Learning and thought
C) The “distracting” modern crowd-life
D) Any kind of journey
Ans: C) The “distracting” modern crowd-life
21. The poem can be read as a lament for: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Medieval warfare
B) Lost unity of purpose in modern life
C) Lost sea routes
D) Lost royal dynasties
Ans: B) Lost unity of purpose in modern life
22. The scholar is “mythic” in the poem because: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) He is proved to be a king
B) He becomes a dragon
C) He writes a legal code
D) He is never definitively found—he survives as a rumour/vision
Ans: D) He is never definitively found—he survives as a rumour/vision
23. The poem’s countryside scenes primarily function to: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Create a calm ideal world against modern noise
B) Describe factory machinery
C) Celebrate city fashion
D) Explain legal contracts
Ans: A) Create a calm ideal world against modern noise
24. The poet-speaker repeatedly urges the scholar to: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Return to city fame
B) Lead a war
C) Keep away from modern life’s “sickness”
D) Become a politician
Ans: C) Keep away from modern life’s “sickness”
25. A major technique in the poem is: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Stage directions and dialogue only
B) Vivid imagery of fields, hills, and evening calm
C) Strict scientific definitions
D) Newspaper headlines
Ans: B) Vivid imagery of fields, hills, and evening calm
26. The poem’s speaker is best described as: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) A soldier narrator
B) A courtroom judge
C) A sailor telling a sea tale
D) A reflective observer addressing an ideal figure
Ans: D) A reflective observer addressing an ideal figure
27. Which term best fits the poem’s calm rural opening? (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Pastoral
B) Urban
C) Satirical pamphlet
D) Detective noir
Ans: A) Pastoral
28. The poem suggests modern people suffer mainly from: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Too much leisure
B) Too much bravery
C) Divided aims and mental distraction
D) Too much silence
Ans: C) Divided aims and mental distraction
29. The scholar-gypsy becomes a symbol of: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Industrial progress
B) Escape into a pure, undivided quest
C) Political revolution
D) City entertainment
Ans: B) Escape into a pure, undivided quest
30. The poem is NOT mainly about: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Modernity and spiritual dissatisfaction
B) A legendary Oxford scholar
C) Rural Oxford landscapes
D) A detailed factory strike and labour laws
Ans: D) A detailed factory strike and labour laws
31. The poem’s movement often shifts from: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Landscape description → meditation on modern life
B) War scenes → victory parade
C) Court trial → verdict
D) Sea voyage → shipwreck
Ans: A) Landscape description → meditation on modern life
32. The scholar-gypsy story originally involves an Oxford student who: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Wins a throne
B) Becomes a sailor
C) Leaves studies to learn gypsy “lore”
D) Becomes a city mayor
Ans: C) Leaves studies to learn gypsy “lore”
33. The poem’s “elegiac” quality mainly means it: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Celebrates only marriage
B) Expresses sorrow/longing and reflective loss
C) Is a comedy of manners
D) Is a military anthem
Ans: B) Expresses sorrow/longing and reflective loss
34. The scholar’s “quest” in the poem most suggests: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Pure greed for gold
B) A legal career
C) A wish for royal power
D) A search for hidden wisdom/vision beyond ordinary life
Ans: D) A search for hidden wisdom/vision beyond ordinary life
35. The speaker’s warning to the scholar implies modern life produces: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Confusion, fatigue, and loss of wholeness
B) Instant enlightenment for all
C) Total peace and unity
D) Perfect happiness always
Ans: A) Confusion, fatigue, and loss of wholeness
36. The poem is especially valued for its: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Scientific argument
B) Courtroom realism
C) Musical rhythm + pictorial description of nature
D) Detective suspense
Ans: C) Musical rhythm + pictorial description of nature
37. A “topographical” poem usually focuses on: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Space travel maps
B) Detailed depiction of real landscapes/locations
C) Only the poet’s diary entries
D) Only mythology battles
Ans: B) Detailed depiction of real landscapes/locations
38. The scholar-gypsy is portrayed as “unchanged” because he avoids: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Any form of walking
B) Any form of reading
C) Any form of dreaming
D) Modern life’s wear and divided aims
Ans: D) Modern life’s wear and divided aims
39. The poem’s address to the scholar often functions as: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) An apostrophe (direct address to an absent figure)
B) A courtroom cross-examination
C) A stage soliloquy in a play
D) A newspaper editorial
Ans: A) An apostrophe (direct address to an absent figure)
40. A key theme in the poem is: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Colonial conquest
B) Mechanical invention
C) Escape vs. modern disillusionment
D) Detective justice
Ans: C) Escape vs. modern disillusionment
41. The poem’s speaker treats the scholar-gypsy as a model to: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Copy modern fashion
B) Preserve inner wholeness and purpose
C) Join parliament
D) Become wealthy quickly
Ans: B) Preserve inner wholeness and purpose
42. The poem is NOT typically described as: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Pastoral
B) Meditative
C) Elegiac
D) A dramatic monologue spoken by a criminal
Ans: D) A dramatic monologue spoken by a criminal
43. The poem’s most important setting-feature is: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) The Oxford countryside (fields/hills/river landscapes)
B) A battlefield camp
C) A desert caravan
D) A royal palace
Ans: A) The Oxford countryside (fields/hills/river landscapes)
44. The scholar’s “longevity” in legend supports the idea of: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Modern life is always healthy
B) Only cities create wisdom
C) A timeless ideal that outlives ordinary change
D) Science replaces imagination
Ans: C) A timeless ideal that outlives ordinary change
45. The poem is widely studied because it combines: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Only mythic battle scenes
B) Nature description with social/philosophical critique
C) Only comic dialogue
D) Only scientific proofs
Ans: B) Nature description with social/philosophical critique
46. The “scholar-gypsy” figure is primarily a symbol of: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Urban corruption
B) Military glory
C) Comic entertainment
D) A pure seeker escaping modern fragmentation
Ans: D) A pure seeker escaping modern fragmentation
47. Which poem is often treated as a “sequel/companion” revisiting similar scenes? (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Thyrsis
B) Ode to the West Wind
C) Adonais
D) Lycidas
Ans: A) Thyrsis
48. The poem’s central tension is best captured as: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Sea vs. land travel
B) Court vs. countryside fashion
C) Ideal continuity vs. modern change and disturbance
D) Comedy vs. tragedy on stage
Ans: C) Ideal continuity vs. modern change and disturbance
49. The poem’s speaker suggests that ordinary people in modern life: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Live with one clear aim always
B) Are pulled in many directions and lose peace
C) Never feel anxiety
D) Never change
Ans: B) Are pulled in many directions and lose peace
50. The Scholar-Gipsy is most accurately described as a poem that: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Only narrates a crime story
B) Only praises industrial growth
C) Only describes city parties
D) Blends legend, landscape, and reflection on modern life
Ans: D) Blends legend, landscape, and reflection on modern life
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