UPSC ESSAY STRATEGY: How to Write an Essay!

iasbaba.com/2015/10/upsc-essay-strategy-how-to-write-an-essay

October 21, 2015

Essay Strategy
In one way or the other your fate with UPSC is decided by the most
unpredictable component of the syllabus i.e. the ESSAY. Ask your seniors, your
peers or even your teachers and no one can come up with a concrete strategy to
prepare for essays. It is ironical that despite being the most flexible component of the
UPSC syllabus, it is the essay that spoils your chances. Why? The answer to this
question is a mystery. So, if anyone tells you that he/ she knows the right way to
write an essay and by right we mean the benchmark set by UPSC, be sure that the
person has got a long way to go before he/ she can truly understand UPSC. We say
this because of a reason. We have seen aspirants with excellent writing skills scoring
70% in essay in their first attempt while barely managing 35% in their next attempt! It
is the other way round also with a number of aspirants.

Now, here we are! After accepting the unpredictable nature of essay evaluation by
UPSC, how can we be sure about any strategy? We can’t and in fact we aren’t. But
then, we must try until we touch the right chords. Here we give you a strategy to write
essays in the most structured, smooth and satisfactory way possible. We don’t
guarantee success if you follow our strategy but we can assure you that after going
through the subsequent paragraphs of this write up, you will have a lot to work upon
and improve. If you keep in mind the following points, you can definitely better your
prospects in essay.

So, what is an essay? Or rather why this paper on essays in UPSC?The answer
is– an essay gives you an opportunity to put forward your thoughts in a manner that
is not impeded by word limit and time (in the sense that you are given enough words
and time to express your knowledge and views). It is asked to check the depth and
breadth of your knowledge. And when we say knowledge, it doesn’t mean our
conventional understanding of the same. The topics are unknown to us before the
exam and we are expected to apply all that we have learnt to produce a logical and
intelligent account of what is being asked. That is why, one can’t prepare for
essays in the conventional sense.

Now coming to the strategy part, we must say at the outset that you must not treat
essay as any other paper of UPSC. In fact, it is the most innovative way to check your
level of preparedness of the entire syllabus of UPSC. If you perceive it in this sense,

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your tendency to limit your imagination by the fictitious boundaries of so called essay
paper will vanish and you will be able to think more freely and more innovatively.
Shed all your previous notions regarding this paper and start afresh.

The key to writing a satisfactory above average essay is multi-dimensionality.

Depth matters but in UPSC breadth is far more important. Keep this fact in mind and
approach the essay in a manner that all your wisdom is reflected in the
interconnected dots in your essay. Now, what do we mean by this? It simply means
the representation of all the dimensions that are related closely to the topic being
asked. In doing so, most aspirants keep throwing unnecessary points and that can
annoy the examiner. The best thing to do in such a scenario is to write all your
thoughts in pointers at the space provided for rough work.

Now, this step is very important. What tools do we have to think about as many
dimensions as possible? The answer lies in the syllabus. Luckily, the syllabus of
UPSC is so exhaustive and detailed that almost everything under the sun is there in
the syllabus. After you are done with your own thoughts and written all the possible
points, think about the syllabus now. For this, a prerequisite is that you must have
learnt the syllabus by heart. Having said so, let us now understand as to how you can
use the syllabus to create points for your essay.

Suppose you have been asked an essay on“Gandhian principles and it’s
relevance in contemporary India”. Now, by linking this essay with various
components of the syllabus, you can create a number of good points for your essay.
We provide you with some examples:

Paper I:

Indian heritage and civilization: Gandhian thoughts on the importance of letting our
civilization welcome others while maintaining our identity and uniqueness. This is
particularly important in view of the ongoing clash of civilizations.

Women issues: Gandhi’s idea on emancipation and empowerment of women and

it’s applicability in modern India.

Communalism and secularism: Gandhian message of communal harmony and

tolerance.

Society: Numerous examples of Gandhian views on the importance of charity, role of

family, social capital, social norms, cinema etc.

Globalization: Gandhian message of self reliance and it’s synthesis with the idea of
global commons/ was Gandhi against globalization?

Paper II:

Constitution and polity: Gandhian idea of a nation state

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Local governance: Panchayati Raj as envisaged by Gandhi.

SHGs: Gandhian conception of the idea; the concept of village gramodyog etc

Education: Gandhian model of education that emphasized upon imparting skills

International relations: Gandhian ideals of co-existence, non- violence, non-

proliferation etc applied to the current foreign policy paradigm; satyagaraha and non-
violence as tools to pursue foreign policy goals.

Paper III:

Inclusive growth: Gandhi’s talisman and it’s remarkable resonance with the very
idea of inclusive growth

Economic development: Gandhian idea of self dependent village communities

Industries: Gandhian apprehensions with respect to western model of

industrialization

Agriculture and animal rearing: Gandhi’s ideas on organic cultivation,

supplementary income through animal rearing etc.

Environment: Gandhian message on cleanliness and sustainability (remember the

quote related to man’s need versus man’s greed?), Gandhi’s views on vegetarianism
etc

Paper IV:

All Gandhian ideas with respect to revenge, change, forgiveness, happiness, strength
etc reflect the essence of this component of the syllabus. We can use all of them
wisely to make our points look better and logical.

At this point of time, it is important to mention about current events. Try to relate the
topic with the current events. It will add to the personality of your essay. For example
in this case, following examples can be included:

Corporate social responsibility: Gandhian idea of trusteeship

Struggle for democracy in various parts of the world:Gandhi’s thoughts on

democracy

Crisis in the Parliament: Gandhian idea of true leadership

Now there are some other tools that are always handy in helping you make your
essay multi- dimensional. Have a look and think how they can be used in different
scenarios:

Preamble to the Constitution

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 FRs and DPSPs
Millennium Development Goals (Now Sustainable Development Goals)
Quotations by eminent personalities
Important Supreme Court judgements
Concepts of sustainability and environmental ethics etc

Having shown you the importance of knowing the syllabus by heart and keeping
oneself updated with the current events, we move forward to the next important
phase of essay writing i.e. the structure.

There is no universally accepted format for writing an essay. However, there is a

general understanding about how one should approach an essay. Of course, one has
to start with an introduction. Introduction can start with a quote, an anecdote or a
simple paragraph. Irrespective of the approach, the introduction must give an idea to
the reader as to what ensue in the subsequent paras. Introduction should be crisp
and interesting. Don’t use cliched sentences in the introduction.

In the next few paragraphs, you are supposed to touch upon the core areas of
the essay. Here, the points in the back of your answer sheet will come handy.
Prioritize the points in a manner that the essay follows a logical flow of ideas and
related points are covered in the same or back to back paras. For example, in the
example given above, you can’t start with the Gandhian views and it’s applicability
regarding local governance, then hop on to the role of non- violence in international
relations and then come back to tolerance towards various civilizations. Similarly, you
can’t club the ideas of self dependent villages and communal harmony in the same
paragraph. At the outset itself, you must have in mind the flow of your essay.

It is important to note that not all your jotted points need find a mention in the essay.
You can trim the points and in fact eliminate the irrelevant ones to make your essay
crisp and close to the central argument.

It is also important that you read the topic after all your paragraphs so that you
don’t deviate from the central theme.

All the paragraphs must have their own personality. There should be no loose ends.
The paragraphs in themselves have to have logical conclusion and if that is not
possible, at least the key to the next paragraph. Randomness and unpredictability
are the last two things that your essay needs.

Coming on to the conclusion part of the essay, it must be understood that you are
not supposed to force yourself in producing an intelligent conclusion. Many a times it
is better to let some question remain answered. It is not because it should be so, but
because it is not possible to have a satisfactory answer always! Just make sure that

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your conclusion is balanced and there is some amount of optimism in your views.
Don’t predict doomsday in the essay even if you are the most depressed person in
this world. UPSC wants to recruit happy and optimistic people. Mind it!

Now the question comes about language. What sort of language should one use-
simple or ornamental, straight or flowery? The answer is write the way you have
always written your essays. The bottom line is you have to impress the examiner in
whichever way possible. If we suggest you to use simple language and you are
actually good in writing impressive English, the chances are you will spoil your
attempt in trying to become what you are definitely not. It is not possible to change
one’s writing style so quickly. Instead one should try to make his/ her style of
writing fetch better marks in the essay.

Is it not that a bride wearing all the ornaments and makeup looks stunning but at the
same time a lady with a beautiful eye but with no makeup or jewelry looks equally
beautiful? The same holds true for language. Believe in your own style and remain
confident.

However, we find it prudent to caution you about being superfluous. This can be
fatal. Don’t beat around the bush. Your sentences must convey what you have in
mind and their length should be commensurate with the message. Don’t use too long
a sentence. Be crisp and to the point.

As far as essay is concerned, DO NOT write in points.Once in a blue moon,

candidates might have scored good marks by following this approach but that is an
exception and not the rule. Respect UPSC and don’t do anything foolish.

Use quotes selectively and wisely. Not using a quote is way better than using it
wrongly. You can prepare a list of quotes that can be used in the essays asked by
UPSC.

Be creative in your writing. Spend some time in thinking about the ways in which you
can improve your presentation. Ask your peers to review your essays and point the
glitches. Try to improve upon the content, presentation and approach by keeping in
mind the given strategy. We are sure that in 3-4 attempts, your essays will start
reflecting your efforts.

We at IASbaba will keep on posting challenging topics for essays. We expect you to
attempt them in strict exam conditions.

Share your inputs regarding the strategy and if any of the seniors reading this, kindly
share your thoughts & strategy to help future aspirants

Happy writing

IASbaba

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