Essay

Essay writing for UPSC is an advertisement of yourself, in other words it is your own marketing to get best deal from the HR cell of the GoI.

Essay writing is at best true expression of realism coupled with integrity, honesty while in crude terms it is an art in bluff.

Before we discuss anything let us first have a look at the syllabus for essay-

“Candidates may be required to write essays on multiple topics. They will be expected to keep closely to the subject of the essay to arrange their ideas in orderly fashion and to write concisely. Credit will be given for effective and exact expression.”

Let us first discuss the basics of essay in brief, later on we will go into the details of each point.

Must for essay writing:

1. Language skill– ablility to communicate effectively in simple and lucid yet through firm and exact expression.
2. Content– holistic knowledge of the topic

Structure of an essay :

1. Introduction – introducing the topic and its context.
2. Body – explaning all the facts, facets and the different views in detail.
3. Conclusion – giving wings to ideas to provide an effective outcome.

Now we can detail above topic further-

I. Introduction – there can be different ways to introduce the topic.

1. Direct introduction
2. Simple explanation of the topics- meaning, relevance, context etc.
3. Indirect introduction
4. Using proverb
5. Anecdote – incident which is impersonal
6. putting a small story explaining the topic.
7. Quote from the known figure relevant to the topic and then explaining the topic.
8. Asking large number of questions relevant to the topic comprehensively covering the all the facets of the topic.
9. from historical fact/incident relevant to the topic.

II. Body– this part is to substantiate the view, establish the arguments and put forth acceptable logical course of action.

1. There should be logical flow of ideas visible in the preceding and subsequent paragraphs.
2. It must have diversity and should be comprehensive.
3. Use quotes, adages and proverbs to substantiate your view.
4. Stick to the topic as we are expected to keep closely to the subject of the essay.
5. Conclusion –
6. It must have positive connotation expressing futuristic approach.
7. Can also end in a vision expressing ideal pragmatic optimistic situation.
8. Can also end in a vision of great leader.
9. Can end in Really enlightening view having lasting impression.
10. Simply it can be a summary of the major ideas discussed in the body.

III. Conclusion- this part is to conclude the theme of discussion.

1. It must result in lasting impression.
2. It must never be negative in approach and outlook.
3. It can be oriented to problem solving.
4. It can be futuristic in theme.
5. It can be dream oriented.
6. It can conclude in quote of some great leader.

 How to bring diversity and holistic analysis of the topic?

1. Temporal analysis of the topic
2. Spatial analysis of the topic
3. Brainstorming
4. Organising points in orderly fashion
5. Critical analysis of the topic
6. Original thinking on the topic

  Don’ts for essay writing-

1. Language related-
   1. No spelling mistakes
   2. No grammatical mistakes
   3. Should not sound offensive
2. Content related
   1. No factual misinformation
   2. No approximation
   3. Should not be biased
   4. Not too critical of government
   5. Should not be against the humanity, constitution, caste, religion etc ( can express critical views )
3. Related to introduction
   1. No negative start
4. Related to conclusion
   1. No negative end
5. Handwriting
   1. Should be legible

• Some other techniques to bring diversities

1. The concept of focus and flow
2. Technique of line of argument
3. Technique of moral argument
4. Field independent thinking
5. Divergent thinking
6. Area specialisation

• Language skills. Use of language of the subject- each subject has its own language, use of that helps effective expression of the thought.

Example.

1. 1. Polity – violation of constitutional mandate harbours chaos and brings instability.
   2. Social issue- All round human development is the need of the hour.
   3. To harness Demographic dividend , we need to plan, conceptualise and implement schemes and programmes.
   4. Social capital without adequate opportunity will become social liability.
   5. Economy- government need to put measures to limit revenue expenditure for fiscal deficit management.

1. Use of quote by a leading personality
2. Use of adjectives and adverbs.
3. Writing practice helps in exponential improvement in language skills.
4. Contents – for contents improvement see the “ Pointwise discussion on selected essay topics section.” We will try to cover around 20-30 essay topics for reference.

• Approaches to introduction – we will look into the examples of different approaches mentioned above-

1. 1. Simple explanation of the topics- meaning, relevance, context etc

Example-

Goods and Services Tax (GST) is an indirect tax levied in India on the sale of goods and services. The tax came into effect from July 1, 2017 through the implementation of One Hundred and First Amendment of the Constitution of India by the Government of India.. It is a destination based tax on consumption of goods and services. It is proposed to be levied at all stages right from manufacture up to final consumption with credit of taxes paid at previous stages available as setoff. In a nutshell, only value addition will be taxed and burden of tax is to be borne by the final consumer. The tax replaced existing multiple cascading taxes levied by the central and state governments. GST simplified a slew of indirect taxes with a unified tax and is therefore expected to dramatically reshape the country’s 2 trillion dollar economy.

1. 2. Quote from the known figure relevant to the topic and then explaining the topic

Example-

“The children of today will make the India of tomorrow. The way we bring them up will determine the future of the country.”  – Jawahar lal Nehru

For a better India tomorrow we need to build institutional framework for the survival, protection, development of children today. Children are the future of our country. India has comprehensive legal regime and policy framework to protect the rights and interests of the children, greater momentum is required for effective implementation of these policies and programmes for well-being of the children by improving their level of education, health and nutrition etc for their holistic development.

Note: we will keep updating this section to give insight into essay improvement strategy regularly.