SEO Title: Francis Bacon – Of Friendship – Important MCQs (UGC NET / SET / PGTRB)
Labels: Francis Bacon, Of Friendship, Bacon Essays, English Essay, Renaissance Prose, Prose MCQs, Friendship Essay, Essays or Counsels Civil and Moral, UGC NET English, SET English, PGTRB English, MCQ Quiz
Description: Practice 50 exam-oriented MCQs on Francis Bacon’s essay Of Friendship. Useful for UGC NET, SET, and PGTRB exams. Each question has a “Show Answer” button.
Francis Bacon – “Of Friendship” – Exam Based MCQs
1. “Of Friendship” is an essay written by: (UGC NET)
A) Joseph Addison
B) Thomas More
C) Francis Bacon
D) Charles Lamb
Ans: C) Francis Bacon
2. Francis Bacon belongs mainly to the: (SET)
A) Romantic age
B) Victorian age
C) Modern age
D) Elizabethan/Jacobean age
Ans: D) Elizabethan/Jacobean age
3. “Of Friendship” is included in Bacon’s famous collection: (PGTRB)
A) The Spectator
B) Essays or Counsels Civil and Moral
C) Table Talk
D) The Tatler
Ans: B) Essays or Counsels Civil and Moral
4. The central theme of the essay “Of Friendship” is: (UGC NET)
A) Political power
B) Truth and falsehood
C) Travel and study
D) The value and uses of friendship
Ans: D) The value and uses of friendship
5. Bacon says that a man without friends lives like a: (SET)
A) King in a palace
B) Beast in the wilderness
C) Hero in battle
D) Saint in heaven
Ans: B) Beast in the wilderness
6. According to Bacon, the first fruit of friendship is: (PGTRB)
A) Material profit
B) Public fame
C) Ease and discharge of the fullness of the heart
D) Political influence
Ans: C) Ease and discharge of the fullness of the heart
7. Bacon believes that friendship helps a person to: (UGC NET)
A) Increase physical strength only
B) Empty his heart of joys and sorrows
C) Avoid all responsibilities
D) Become a poet
Ans: B) Empty his heart of joys and sorrows
8. In the essay, Bacon compares a friend to: (SET)
A) A sword in battle
B) A second self
C) A king’s minister only
D) A teacher alone
Ans: B) A second self
9. Bacon says that communication with a friend makes the mind: (PGTRB)
A) More confused
B) More bitter
C) Clearer and more balanced
D) Entirely passive
Ans: C) Clearer and more balanced
10. The second fruit of friendship, according to Bacon, is: (UGC NET)
A) Emotional relief
B) Bodily strength
C) Brightening of the understanding
D) Political authority
Ans: C) Brightening of the understanding
11. Bacon says that a friend can help a man by: (SET)
A) Flattering him constantly
B) Correcting judgment and offering counsel
C) Ignoring his weaknesses
D) Taking his place in war
Ans: B) Correcting judgment and offering counsel
12. Bacon compares the mind without friendly counsel to: (PGTRB)
A) A closed garden
B) A dark cave
C) An unmanured field or a rough stone needing polishing
D) A silent church
Ans: C) An unmanured field or rough stone
13. The third fruit of friendship, according to Bacon, is: (UGC NET)
A) Public entertainment
B) Profit in business
C) Help in the affairs and actions of life
D) Religious peace only
Ans: C) Help in the affairs and actions of life
14. Bacon’s essay “Of Friendship” is mainly: (SET)
A) A dramatic monologue
B) A reflective prose essay
C) A lyric poem
D) A satire in verse
Ans: B) A reflective prose essay
15. Bacon’s prose style is best known as: (PGTRB)
A) Loose and emotional
B) Ornamental and vague
C) Aphoristic and concise
D) Dramatic and theatrical
Ans: C) Aphoristic and concise
16. Bacon suggests that joys shared with a friend become: (UGC NET)
A) Smaller
B) Doubled
C) Forgotten
D) Less meaningful
Ans: B) Doubled
17. Sorrows shared with a friend become: (SET)
A) Doubled
B) Ignored
C) Divided or reduced
D) Permanent
Ans: C) Divided or reduced
18. Friendship, according to Bacon, provides relief especially for: (PGTRB)
A) Bodily pain only
B) Hidden emotions and mental burdens
C) Physical hunger
D) Lack of money
Ans: B) Hidden emotions and mental burdens
19. Bacon uses the metaphor of a pomegranate to suggest: (UGC NET)
A) Wealth and luxury
B) The heart broken open and shared
C) Royal power
D) Religious purity
Ans: B) The heart broken open and shared
20. Bacon believes that speaking to a friend makes thoughts: (SET)
A) Entirely disappear
B) More confused
C) Better ordered and clarified
D) More private
Ans: C) Better ordered and clarified
21. “Counsel of a friend” in Bacon’s essay means: (PGTRB)
A) Command of a king
B) Wise advice from a trusted companion
C) Religious sermon
D) Public praise
Ans: B) Wise advice from a trusted companion
22. Bacon says a friend is useful in practical life because he can: (UGC NET)
A) Perform impossible miracles
B) Do things one cannot do oneself
C) Replace government
D) Remove all risks
Ans: B) Do things one cannot do oneself
23. Bacon discusses how a friend may represent a man in matters concerning: (SET)
A) Family, business, and public dealings
B) Only religion
C) Only poetry
D) Only warfare
Ans: A) Family, business, and public dealings
24. The essay presents friendship as: (PGTRB)
A) A weakness
B) A luxury for kings only
C) A necessary aid to human life
D) A distraction from truth
Ans: C) A necessary aid to human life
25. Bacon’s approach to friendship is mainly: (UGC NET)
A) Purely sentimental
B) Philosophical and practical
C) Entirely romantic
D) Purely religious
Ans: B) Philosophical and practical
26. According to Bacon, friendship is necessary because humans are: (SET)
A) Self-sufficient always
B) Social beings with emotional and practical needs
C) Weak in body only
D) Entirely dependent on kings
Ans: B) Social beings with emotional and practical needs
27. Bacon uses examples from: (PGTRB)
A) Only mythology
B) History, politics, and daily life
C) Only science
D) Only drama
Ans: B) History, politics, and daily life
28. The image of friendship in Bacon’s essay is closest to: (UGC NET)
A) A battlefield
B) A mirror and support system
C) A prison
D) A crown
Ans: B) A mirror and support system
29. Bacon considers friendship helpful for both: (SET)
A) Kings and beggars only
B) Mind and action
C) Wealth and beauty
D) Religion and war only
Ans: B) Mind and action
30. The “fullness of the heart” refers to: (PGTRB)
A) Physical illness
B) Wealth and greed
C) Accumulated emotions and thoughts
D) Religious duty only
Ans: C) Accumulated emotions and thoughts
31. Bacon’s essays are admired for: (UGC NET)
A) Epic storytelling
B) Brevity, wisdom, and memorable statements
C) Musical quality only
D) Dramatic suspense
Ans: B) Brevity, wisdom, memorable statements
32. In “Of Friendship,” Bacon suggests that a true friend can help one: (SET)
A) Avoid all suffering
B) Think more clearly and act more effectively
C) Gain immortality
D) Escape society forever
Ans: B) Think clearly and act effectively
33. Bacon’s treatment of friendship is different from purely emotional writers because he emphasizes: (PGTRB)
A) Only romance
B) Usefulness as well as affection
C) Religious vision only
D) Nature imagery alone
Ans: B) Usefulness as well as affection
34. The essay suggests that friendship prevents: (UGC NET)
A) All economic loss
B) Isolation of heart and confusion of judgment
C) Political rebellion
D) Disease only
Ans: B) Isolation and confusion
35. Bacon’s view of friendship may best be called: (SET)
A) Humanistic
B) Cynical
C) Entirely mystical
D) Comic
Ans: A) Humanistic
36. “Of Friendship” shows Bacon as a writer interested in: (PGTRB)
A) Human conduct and practical wisdom
B) Fairy tales
C) Epic warfare
D) Mythological fantasy
Ans: A) Human conduct and practical wisdom
37. In the essay, friendship is shown to be useful in matters that are: (UGC NET)
A) Emotional, intellectual, and practical
B) Only financial
C) Only romantic
D) Only religious
Ans: A) Emotional, intellectual, and practical
38. Bacon’s essay argues that friendship is necessary because: (SET)
A) Human beings cannot fully manage life alone
B) Friends always agree with us
C) Friendship brings political office
D) Friendship removes morality
Ans: A) Humans cannot fully manage life alone
39. Bacon is often called the father of the: (PGTRB)
A) English essay
B) English novel
C) English epic
D) English drama
Ans: A) English essay
40. A true friend, according to Bacon, is one who: (UGC NET)
A) Always praises us
B) Helps us emotionally and practically
C) Avoids advising us
D) Seeks fame through us
Ans: B) Helps emotionally and practically
41. Bacon’s manner in “Of Friendship” is: (SET)
A) Logical and illustrative
B) Wildly emotional
C) Entirely poetic
D) Dramatically narrative
Ans: A) Logical and illustrative
42. Bacon shows that friendship contributes to: (PGTRB)
A) Better judgment and successful conduct
B) Laziness and emotional weakness
C) Isolation from society
D) Blind dependence only
Ans: A) Better judgment and successful conduct
43. Which statement best fits Bacon’s idea? (UGC NET)
A) Friendship is merely decorative
B) Friendship is essential to the heart, mind, and life of action
C) Friendship is harmful to judgment
D) Friendship belongs only to rulers
Ans: B) Essential to heart, mind, and action
44. Bacon’s essay reflects Renaissance thinking because it values: (SET)
A) Human reason and practical wisdom
B) Blind tradition only
C) Myth and superstition
D) Emotional excess only
Ans: A) Human reason and practical wisdom
45. The usefulness of friendship in “Of Friendship” includes the ability to: (PGTRB)
A) Delegate, advise, comfort, and represent
B) Rule an empire alone
C) Eliminate all enemies
D) End all sorrow permanently
Ans: A) Delegate, advise, comfort, represent
46. Bacon’s essay suggests that without friendship, a man may suffer from: (UGC NET)
A) Lack of food
B) Emotional suffocation and poor judgment
C) Only poverty
D) Public dishonor only
Ans: B) Emotional suffocation and poor judgment
47. The essay’s overall message is that friendship: (SET)
A) Is an ornament
B) Is a weakness
C) Is a vital necessity of human existence
D) Is useful only in politics
Ans: C) Vital necessity of human existence
48. Bacon’s style in this essay can best be described as: (PGTRB)
A) Concise, wise, and illustrative
B) Musical and lyrical
C) Satirical and comic
D) Dramatic and emotional
Ans: A) Concise, wise, illustrative
49. The best summary of Bacon’s “Of Friendship” is: (UGC NET)
A) Friendship gives delight only
B) Friendship is useful only for kings
C) Friendship relieves the heart, sharpens the mind, and aids action
D) Friendship should be avoided for wisdom
Ans: C) Relieves heart, sharpens mind, aids action
50. “Of Friendship” remains important because it presents friendship as: (SET)
A) Sentimental fantasy
B) A practical and human necessity
C) Purely religious duty
D) A political strategy alone
Ans: B) A practical and human necessity
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