Namrata Choubey
AIR 73 UPSC CSE 2021
Essay Paper is the first and one of the most interesting papers in the CSE Mains Examination. Along with the diversity of the topics, it gives the aspirants an opportunity to express their creative ideas in around 1200 words.
Apart from being a scoring paper (if one has command over it), writing good essays in the first paper of the mains exam cycle can also help in boosting confidence for subsequent GS papers.
Writing good essays is a challenging task, especially for those who are new in the preparation. In recent years, the Essay paper is becoming more and more challenging due to inclusion of Philosophical topics, which most candidates face difficulty with. Hence, it becomes important to understand the demand of the Essay paper and develop one’s own writing style to score well.
Here, I will share my basic approach towards the Essay paper. I looked at Essay paper as an opportunity to boost my marks and tried to prepare for diversity of topics, so that I feel confident in attempting it.
I have written two mains, 2019 and 2021 and my scores in the essay paper are:
• 125 (2019, in my opinion decent for the first attempt)
• 140 (2021, can be said to be very good for this year)
Please note that my approach and strategy towards Essay is not completely original. I utilized various approaches of previous toppers and through practice developed a way of writing that is my own.
When I began to write an Essay after my first prelims, I didn't have any idea about the approach to be followed. It seemed like a huge and scary task. What helped me to understand the Essay writing is Anudeep Durishetty Sir’s blog on Essay Writing. It helped in to build a basic approach. It is advisable to go through it more than once to understand the nuances.
Apart from that, I have not followed any particular book for Essay writing. The range and diversity of topics demand the Candidates to develop methodology as well as Confidence to tackle any topic in the Examination through practice.
Generating the essay content
Now, the content part for the Essays comes from the GS knowledge. Everything that is in UPSC syllabus, everything you read in Newspapers, Magazines, Books etc can be utilized in your essays. Even the Philosophical Essays can be tackled using GS knowledge. A better understanding of Ethics Paper content (Like values, philosophies, thinkers etc) can help in writing good Philosophical essays. Also, some knowledge of your Optional (like Sociology, Philosophy etc) could be and should be used to enrich your Essays. This much of Information will build your basic essay content.
Note that some candidates read some non-fictional books etc for Essay. I believe If one has interest, one should surely pursue it. Knowledge of various viewpoints and multiple ideas will certainly help. However, those who have not read any such book or cannot read due to any reason, there is nothing to worry about. I have only used my GS knowledge in my Essays and have not read any other book. Only the basic Knowledge, understanding of topic and value addition can help you in scoring a fairly decent score.
To add to the above content, one should have a collection of quotes, examples, Case studies, data, facts, anecdotes etc. This can be done from resources like Newspapers, Google etc. Quotes, Examples etc can be collected theme wise (like on values, Women Issue) and thinkers wise (Buddha, Gandhi). There is a need to revise this again and again so that you can incorporate these in your Essays. I used to keep a separate notebook and add to it anything from the newspapers etc which I found useful for Essay. Reading Yojana magazines on different Issues (like Inclusive development) was also helpful.
Before Starting to write an Essay, some of the Essays written by toppers or good copies from some test series etc can be referred to. It can help in having a basic Idea of what to write, how to write.
When to start essay writing practice?
In my opinion, one can comfortably write a complete essay after completing GS syllabus once. However, before that also, one can try to write smaller essays on topics which you might be studying in GS. For example, if you have read International Relations, you can try writing about Evolution of Indian foreign policy in 5-6 pages. This can be done if you are in the early phase of preparation and want to practice Essay.
Choosing the topic of the essay
In Essay Writing, Choosing the topic is one of the most important components, especially in the Examination. Wrong or Incomplete understanding of topic can make you score less. Practicing a lot of essays on diverse topics and trying to make a rough structure before attempting the essay can help in choosing the right topic. Try to choose a topic in which you can not only write around 1200 words, but also are able to include multiple dimensions, viewpoints, data, philosophy etc. Please do not choose any topic because lesser number of students will attempt it. In the examination, try to maximize your strength. Choose the Essay which you feel you can write the best, even if it is the most common theme.
While choosing a topic in the Examination, Read the given topics 2-3 times and try to figure out which topic you are able to interpret correctly. Around 5-10 minutes can be given to choose the topic. Next 10-15 minutes should be given to prepare a rough structure of different components of essay-Intro, Body and Conclusion. Mention in brief in your rough what all you are going to include in the Essay. The Essay writing can be done in the next 1 hr or so.
Basic essay skeleton
The Essay has to be written in the basic Introduction, body, Conclusion format. Introduction generally is written in around 100-150 words. Similarly, conclusion can also be written in around 50-100 words. Rest would be the main body of the Essay. The entire Essay should be written in paragraph format and smaller paragraphs are preferable.
The language of the Essay has to be simple English. There is no need to write complex English words, Jargons should be avoided. For those aspirants, who are not so confident about their English, please know that there is nothing to worry about. You can writesmaller, simple and grammatically correct sentences. Simpler the language is, the better it is.
Now, Let’s have a look at the different components of the essay in more detail:
Introduction
The Introduction is the most important part of the Essay. A well written Introduction can be said to be half job done. In the introduction, you have to convince the evaluator that you have understood the topic at hand and also compel him/her to explore how you will approach it further.
You should practice Introduction for multiple essays, even if you are not writing the full-length essays, due to paucity of time etc.
I generally preferred to begin my essays with some real or imaginary story, anecdote, news item etc. In the 2021 paper, In Essay 2, for the topic ‘What is research, but a blind date with knowledge’, I wrote the story of Newton sitting under the apple tree and watching the falling apple. While writing any such story, it is important to establish connection with the topic at hand. I mentioned in the Intro how Newton, after watching the apple fall, realized that there is some knowledge which needed to be discovered. Hence, he started his research (a blind date with the knowledge as he was also not aware of what the outcome would be).
It's not always easy to find such relatable stories. Sometimes, you can write imaginar ystories. You can also use some recent news items, or some quote, write a paragraph about it and show the link with the topic.
For the Introduction, Collection of some famous anecdotes from the lives of great people like Gandhi, Buddha, Mother Teresa etc can be done. Some famous news items (like Malala getting shot) can also be used. Many of the stories which we read in our childhood (like the story of Midas or Panchatantra stories etc) can also come handy.
The purpose of such an Intro is to make your essay interesting and engaging and stories can prove to be a great beginning if used wisely. In the examination, Two Essays should have different type of introduction (For Example anecdote based and quote based), if possible. After writing your anecdote and establishing the link with the topic, you can give a brief overview of what to be expected in the essay.
For Example, for the topic mentioned earlier I wrote:
“In this essay, we will explore what knowledge is, what are different kinds of knowledge, what is research and try to establish how research is an act of blind date with Knowledge.”
Such a paragraph can help the reader to get an idea of your approach and it can also be helpful in bringing greater flow in your essay. Such a paragraph will complete your Intro.
Main Body
There can be different approaches to arrange content in the main body. The main body can be divided into 2-3 subheads, each subhead discussing different components of your
Essay.
The first part of the body could be explaining the keywords in the topic. Asking questions like What Why How around the topic can help in gather content and organizing it. You can explain the keywords using some theories, Philosophy definition etc. Then there is need to connect the keyword and establish the topic, explain and substantiate it. Various dimensions of the topics can be explored like Political, Economic, Social, environmental, Legal, Ethical, International etc. Adding Examples from different dimensions will help in Explanation as well as Enrichment.
Other things that can be explored in the body could be the historical background of the topic. The evolution of the topic with time and/or space can be explored. For Example, while writing an essay on Patriarchy, we can explore how the condition of women has changed from Ancient to medieval to modern India, and later in post-Independence India.
Another approach could be exploring the topic from the point of view of Stakeholders. For Example, An Essay related to social justice can be explored from point of view of various vulnerable sections-women, transgenderised etc.
After Explanation and Substantiation of the topic, the second part of the main body could be highlighting various issues and challenges related to the topic at hand. For Example,
While Writing Essay on Value systems, we can write what all challenges we are facing in the society with respect to values and its implications.
In Philosophical Essays, one approach could be to give counter thesis also (whenever possible) and try to give some Examples to substantiate. Since we have mentioned issues and challenges, the third part of the main body would be to write solutions. In this part, we can write what all is already being done, and also give some innovative and creative ideas. The solutions can be ranging from political to legal to societal to value based. The solutions can be broken down as short term, medium term or long-term measures. The solutions can also be organized at Individual level, Community level, Societal level,
National level and International Level. The solution part will lead us to our Conclusion.
Conclusion
An important thing to note while writing a conclusion is that it should not be sudden. There should be a slow build up towards writing the final paragraph. Conclusion can be written in 2-3 paragraphs.
Giving the short summary of the essay can be done. Also, taking a stand can also be done.
However, your stand should be balanced and not biased. In the final paragraph, we can use quotes related to the topic and summarize our essay.
We should write our conclusion on a Futuristic and optimistic note. The conclusion can include keywords like ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’, ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, SDG goals etc. The anecdote written in the Introduction can also be linked again with the conclusion.
The conclusion can be little over the top and include broader goals and ideals.
For example, while writing Essay on Women empowerment, we can write how women empowerment will not only be good for women, But also help the humanity to achieve the celebrated ideals of Equality and Justice, and will help it become what it should really stand for.
Some General Points on Essay
• Try to think any topic in a broader perspective. Even the Topics that look limited in scope should be interpreted broadly. For Example: the topic ‘Slow and Steady wins the race’ should not be interpreted only at the level of individual, but also at level of community, society or even national level, if possible.
• All kinds of bias should be avoided with deliberate attention. If you have any bias, even at the subconscious level, it might reflect in a 1200-word essay. There is a needt o carefully work upon it all the time.
• Whenever you think of one opinion, try to think about counter opinion also, it will help in balancing the overall opinion. Also, thinking at all India level is necessary. The solutions should be broad and all encompassing.
• Some aspects like Ethical and Environmental perspectives can be consciously included in the essay, wherever possible. Values like Empathy, Compassion, Integrity, Objectivity etc should be reflected in Essays.
• Quoting the Exact quote is not necessary. If the quote can be remembered then it is fine, otherwisesome modifications can also be made, keeping the broad idea same.
Quotes can also be written in the main body to substantiate your arguments.
However, we should not overdo it.
• In socioeconomic Essays, we must use some data to establish our Point. Data on different issues like Crime against women, Health and Educational issues etc can be collected and used.
• Practicing a lot of Essays is the only way to do well in this paper in my opinion.
Write as much as possible. Attempting previous year Questions is important.
All the best and hope this helps ☺