>>Essay in the UPSC Civil Services Main examination

Essay in the UPSC Civil Services Main examination

UPSC guidelines regarding essay writing;

Candidate will be required to write an essay on a specific topic. The choice of subjects will be given. 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.

Generally accepted way of writing a good essay;

1. One has to comprehend the essence of the topic of the essay he/she has opted to write.

2. Candidates must have to have the required in-depth knowledge about that topic, so that his essay writing should reflect his command over the topic and on that basis while writing essay a holistic approach to the topic by the candidate can be easily conveyed to the examiner.

3. One has to structure the essay on the generally accepted pattern i.e. there has to be an introductory paragraph, in the next one/two paragraphs, the central thematic words of the topic should be dealt with, by writing the implicit meaning of the word/words. Then in the proceeding paragraphs the trunk i.e. the main body of the essay should be written. The end paragraph of the essay should enumerate the concluding remark from the side of the writer.

4. You can take the help of the quotation of the important writers, philosophers and thinkers. But such quotations should have to be in relation to the central theme of the topic.

5. Factual informations have to be the base of your analysis for the central theme of the essay. Without factual backup your essay would be like body without limbs.

6. Therefore the choice of the essay should be based on your good knowledge about the topic you have chosen. It would be only then that you would be able to process the facts with your analysis for the central theme of the essay.

7. Your essay has to be of the 1500 words, though the exact word limit is not given by the UPSC in the essay paper but you need to maintain the 1500 words in the essay paper.

8. Remember key to success in the UPSC Civil Service exam is to write the papers in a very simple language whether English, Hindi or Urdu.

9. Write the way the 12th standard student writes and always be close to the topic or the central theme of the question. Don’t go wayward; don’t be vague in your answers and in the essay.

10. You would simply be different from the others this can be achieved if

• you are simple in writing,
• targeted in approach,
• pin-pointed to the central theme of the question,
• limit the things in the required word limit and
• finally satisfy the general quest of the examiner to know generalist approach with proper understanding of things in your writings and answers.
  

11. You need not to confuse yourself with extra things than what you have been suggested here. You write on the principles enumerated here which has been enumerated here on the basis of personal experience of the UPSC examination.