Richard Steele – The Spectator Club – Exam Based MCQs
1. Richard Steele is chiefly known as a: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2021)
A) Epic poet
B) Periodical essayist
C) Metaphysical poet
D) Tragic dramatist
Ans: B) Periodical essayist
2. Richard Steele was closely associated with: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2020; PGTRB 2022)
A) John Milton
B) Alexander Pope
C) Joseph Addison
D) Samuel Johnson
Ans: C) Joseph Addison
3. The Spectator was first published in: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2021; PGTRB 2023)
A) 1711
B) 1660
C) 1745
D) 1690
Ans: A) 1711
4. The Spectator is a famous: (UGC NET 2016; SET 2018; PGTRB 2020)
A) Epic poem
B) Tragedy
C) Ballad collection
D) Periodical paper
Ans: D) Periodical paper
5. Before The Spectator, Steele had already become famous for: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2017; PGTRB 2021)
A) The Tatler
B) The Rambler
C) The Idler
D) The Examiner
Ans: A) The Tatler
6. The Spectator Club is an essay from: (UGC NET 2015; SET 2019; PGTRB 2022)
A) The Guardian
B) The Tatler
C) The Spectator
D) The Rambler
Ans: C) The Spectator
7. The Spectator Club essay mainly introduces: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2022; PGTRB 2020)
A) A political party
B) A debating society in Parliament
C) A group of imaginary club members
D) A tragic family
Ans: C) A group of imaginary club members
8. The narrator of The Spectator is commonly known as: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2021)
A) Mr. Spectator
B) Sir Roger
C) Captain Sentry
D) Will Honeycomb
Ans: A) Mr. Spectator
9. Mr. Spectator is characterized chiefly by his: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2023)
A) Loud speech
B) Silence and observation
C) Political ambition
D) Military heroism
Ans: B) Silence and observation
10. The Spectator Club is important because it presents: (UGC NET 2021; SET 2023; PGTRB 2022)
A) Abstract philosophical theory only
B) Realistic social types
C) Medieval allegory
D) Mythological gods
Ans: B) Realistic social types
11. The most memorable member of The Spectator Club is: (UGC NET 2016; SET 2021; PGTRB 2020)
A) Sir Andrew Freeport
B) Captain Sentry
C) Sir Roger de Coverley
D) The Clergyman
Ans: C) Sir Roger de Coverley
12. Sir Roger de Coverley represents the: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2017; PGTRB 2021)
A) Country gentleman
B) Miserly merchant
C) Pure scholar
D) Radical politician
Ans: A) Country gentleman
13. Sir Roger’s oddities make him: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2022; PGTRB 2023)
A) Cruel and hateful
B) Comic and lovable
C) Villainous
D) Entirely tragic
Ans: B) Comic and lovable
14. Sir Roger is described as a man of: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2019; PGTRB 2021)
A) Fashionable vice
B) Good heart and eccentric habits
C) Complete indifference
D) Learned pedantry only
Ans: B) Good heart and eccentric habits
15. The member named Sir Andrew Freeport represents the: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2022)
A) Soldier
B) Merchant class
C) Clergy
D) Old aristocracy only
Ans: B) Merchant class
16. Will Honeycomb is chiefly associated with: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2021; PGTRB 2020)
A) Commerce
B) Fashion and gallantry
C) Religion only
D) Military discipline
Ans: B) Fashion and gallantry
17. Captain Sentry represents the: (UGC NET 2016; SET 2018; PGTRB 2023)
A) Clergyman
B) Soldier
C) Lawyer
D) Rustic farmer
Ans: B) Soldier
18. The clergyman in The Spectator Club is praised for his: (UGC NET 2021; SET 2022; PGTRB 2021)
A) Vanity
B) Quiet piety and learning
C) Military courage
D) Commercial success
Ans: B) Quiet piety and learning
19. The Templar in the club represents: (UGC NET 2015; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Law and polite education
B) Village superstition
C) Peasant life
D) Purely religious debate
Ans: A) Law and polite education
20. The Spectator Club as a whole symbolizes: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2020; PGTRB 2022)
A) Different sections of English society
B) Only the nobility
C) Only religious classes
D) Only political factions
Ans: A) Different sections of English society
21. The prose style of Steele in this essay is mainly: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2021; PGTRB 2023)
A) Harsh and obscure
B) Easy, graceful, and conversational
C) Strictly poetic
D) Entirely scientific
Ans: B) Easy, graceful, and conversational
22. The tone of The Spectator Club is best described as: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2022; PGTRB 2020)
A) Bitterly satirical
B) Humorous and genial
C) Entirely tragic
D) Purely argumentative
Ans: B) Humorous and genial
23. Steele’s humour in The Spectator Club is mainly: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2023; PGTRB 2022)
A) Savage
B) Ironically destructive
C) Gentle and reformative
D) Completely grotesque
Ans: C) Gentle and reformative
24. The purpose of The Spectator papers generally was to: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2021)
A) Entertain and morally instruct
B) Write epic poetry
C) Defend monarchy only
D) Attack religion directly
Ans: A) Entertain and morally instruct
25. The Spectator Club is an example of the: (UGC NET 2016; SET 2020; PGTRB 2023)
A) Familiar essay / periodical essay tradition
B) Epic tradition
C) Gothic novel tradition
D) Metaphysical lyric tradition
Ans: A) Familiar essay / periodical essay tradition
26. Steele and Addison wanted to “enliven morality with wit” and “temper wit with”: (UGC NET 2021; SET 2022; PGTRB 2021)
A) politics
B) morality
C) tragedy
D) commerce
Ans: B) morality
27. The Spectator Club presents characters mainly through: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2022)
A) Action-packed plot
B) Character sketches
C) Dramatic dialogue only
D) Epic invocation
Ans: B) Character sketches
28. These character sketches are important predecessors of: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2021; PGTRB 2020)
A) Realistic prose characterization
B) Mystery plays
C) Pastoral elegy
D) Symbolist poetry
Ans: A) Realistic prose characterization
29. Steele’s contribution to English literature lies chiefly in: (UGC NET 2015; SET 2023; PGTRB 2021)
A) The growth of prose and social essay
B) Revival of epic
C) Invention of blank verse
D) Medieval romance
Ans: A) The growth of prose and social essay
30. The Spectator Club reflects the spirit of the: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2019; PGTRB 2023)
A) Augustan age
B) Romantic age
C) Victorian age
D) Modern age
Ans: A) Augustan age
31. The Augustan age valued: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2022; PGTRB 2020)
A) order, balance, and urbanity
B) wild imagination only
C) medieval superstition
D) fragmented consciousness
Ans: A) order, balance, and urbanity
32. The Spectator Club is not a story with a developed plot but rather a: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2017; PGTRB 2022)
A) dramatic tragedy
B) descriptive social portrait
C) political speech
D) lyric confession
Ans: B) descriptive social portrait
33. Steele’s method in The Spectator Club is to reform society through: (UGC NET 2021; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) violent denunciation
B) mild satire and example
C) tragic punishment
D) theological argument only
Ans: B) mild satire and example
34. Sir Roger de Coverley later becomes central to a series of essays known as the: (UGC NET 2016; SET 2021; PGTRB 2023)
A) Coverley Papers
B) Rambler Papers
C) Honeycomb Papers
D) Club Acts
Ans: A) Coverley Papers
35. The essay The Spectator Club is valuable as a document of: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2022; PGTRB 2022)
A) medieval monastic life
B) early eighteenth-century social life
C) Renaissance court drama
D) Victorian industrial poverty only
Ans: B) early eighteenth-century social life
36. The Spectator aimed particularly at the improvement of: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2018; PGTRB 2020)
A) public taste and manners
B) military discipline
C) agricultural methods
D) scientific experiments
Ans: A) public taste and manners
37. Steele’s prose is often considered more ______ than Addison’s. (UGC NET 2017; SET 2023; PGTRB 2021)
A) cold and formal
B) warm and emotional
C) obscure and dense
D) philosophical and abstract
Ans: B) warm and emotional
38. Addison’s prose is often compared to Steele’s as being more: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2020; PGTRB 2022)
A) careless
B) polished and restrained
C) sentimental only
D) dramatic only
Ans: B) polished and restrained
39. The Spectator Club may best be classified as: (UGC NET 2021; SET 2019; PGTRB 2023)
A) a social essay with character portraits
B) a dramatic monologue
C) an allegorical poem
D) a heroic tragedy
Ans: A) a social essay with character portraits
40. Which pair is correctly matched? (UGC NET 2016; SET 2021; PGTRB 2020)
A) Steele — The Spectator Club
B) Dryden — The Spectator Club
C) Wordsworth — The Spectator Club
D) Browning — The Spectator Club
Ans: A) Steele — The Spectator Club
41. Which statement is TRUE about The Spectator Club? (UGC NET 2019; SET 2022; PGTRB 2021)
A) It attacks society with savage bitterness
B) It portrays representative social figures with humour
C) It is a tragic drama in prose
D) It has no moral purpose
Ans: B) It portrays representative social figures with humour
42. Which statement best suits Sir Roger de Coverley? (UGC NET 2020; SET 2023; PGTRB 2022)
A) He is a villainous rake
B) He is an eccentric yet humane country squire
C) He is a miserly banker
D) He is a revolutionary politician
Ans: B) He is an eccentric yet humane country squire
43. Which statement best suits Mr. Spectator? (UGC NET 2018; SET 2018; PGTRB 2020)
A) He is a noisy reformer
B) He is an observing, detached narrator
C) He is a tragic lover
D) He is a mock-epic hero
Ans: B) He is an observing, detached narrator
44. Steele’s larger purpose in essays like The Spectator Club is: (UGC NET 2021; SET 2021; PGTRB 2023)
A) to amuse without meaning
B) to cultivate civilized conduct
C) to reject social life entirely
D) to write only for scholars
Ans: B) to cultivate civilized conduct
45. The Spectator Club helped shape the development of: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2020; PGTRB 2022)
A) English prose style and periodical essay
B) Gothic fiction alone
C) only blank verse tragedy
D) medieval religious drama
Ans: A) English prose style and periodical essay
46. Which statement best suits Steele’s art in The Spectator Club? (UGC NET 2015; SET 2022; PGTRB 2021)
A) He combines humour, observation, and moral purpose
B) He writes with complete pessimism
C) He avoids characterization
D) He depends only on plot suspense
Ans: A) He combines humour, observation, and moral purpose
47. Which statement best suits the club members collectively? (UGC NET 2020; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) They are symbolic abstractions only
B) They form a miniature image of society
C) They are epic warriors
D) They are supernatural beings
Ans: B) They form a miniature image of society
48. Which statement best suits The Spectator Club? (UGC NET 2019; SET 2021; PGTRB 2021)
A) It is a polished piece of social prose portraying early eighteenth-century manners
B) It is a romantic lyric of subjectivity
C) It is a modernist fragmented text
D) It is an Elizabethan revenge tragedy
Ans: A) It is a polished piece of social prose portraying early eighteenth-century manners
49. Which statement best suits the significance of The Spectator Club? (UGC NET 2016; SET 2023; PGTRB 2022)
A) It reveals the rise of prose, taste, and middle-class culture
B) It rejects society altogether
C) It belongs to medieval sermon literature
D) It is only a humorous sketch with no literary value
Ans: A) It reveals the rise of prose, taste, and middle-class culture
50. Which statement best describes Richard Steele’s The Spectator Club? (UGC NET 2021; SET 2022; PGTRB 2023)
A) It is a periodical essay that introduces a group of representative club members, especially Sir Roger de Coverley, in a humorous, civilized, and morally instructive manner
B) It is a tragic drama about club rivalry
C) It is a mock-epic on London commerce
D) It is a political pamphlet on war
Ans: A) It is a periodical essay that introduces a group of representative club members, especially Sir Roger de Coverley, in a humorous, civilized, and morally instructive manner
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