My Essay strategy

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 write smaller,
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 imaginary
stories. 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 need
to 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, otherwise some 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 ☺