 Hello friends, my name is Dilip Pratapsan Shakavath, I have secured all India ranked 72 in civil services examination 2018, my optional subject was public administration and now I am going to discuss a detailed strategy for the essay paper. So first of all, first I would like to state my marks in the essay paper in my previous attempt and in this present attempt. In 2017 attempt I scored 121 marks in the essay paper and this year I improved it to 150 marks in civil service examination 2018. So in this way I know what things didn't work for me last year and what things did work for me and I had improved my score from 121 to 150. So I would like to suggest a few tips from my side which candidates can follow and get very good marks in essay. PSE doesn't have a syllabus for the essay paper but it has the broad guidelines which states that you have to creep closely to the subject of the essay, you have to have an exact and effective expression, then you have to write in an orderly fashion and the fourth guideline is that you have to write concisely. So these four parameters may seem very vague but these are very, very important pointers when the examiners in UPSE they review your copies. So in that sense these guidelines are very important so I would suggest the candidates to first go through these guidelines and then start preparing for the essay paper. Now the second thing is the approach, what approach should a candidate have towards the essay paper. Now the approach should be very simple that you have to understand that essay paper is not about content, if I have to be specific, it is more about presentation of that content in a very good manner because the content you can derive from all the general studies papers. The only thing is that you have to organize and you have to write it in orderly fashion and you have to write concisely and you have to have an exact expression that what you are writing you are able to convey what you want to say. So in this way this thing is important. So the next thing is how to practice for essay. Now the best practicing point for essay paper is to practice the previous year essay papers because UPSE has a very different standard and in UPSE if you go through the previous year essays most of the essays are very, very broad based essays which touch many different sectors of every part of the syllabus and also some of the essays are very tricky means you may face difficulty in deciphering the real meaning of the essay even. So UPSE previous year questions are the best starting point for practicing the essay paper. Now the first important thing when you see an essay in the UPSE if you go through the previous year cushion papers is the topic of the essay and I suggest that a candidate should spare at least 5 to 10 minutes out of 3 hours to understand the topic because once you go wrong there is no coming back because there is a time constraint also in the essay paper. So you have to decipher the meaning of the essay in a very nice manner and you must devote 5 to 10 minutes so that the topic is crystal clear to you and what is expected out of you you are very clear about that. So this is one important tip from my side. Another thing is that practicing on a daily basis, weekly basis, monthly basis or how should we practice. So I would suggest that a candidate if the main examination is around 1 year away or 6 months away a candidate must practice by writing weekly essays. Every Sunday you may write an essay and get it reviewed by some of the experts it may be your teachers, mentors, seniors or friends. So this is very important thing and once you are into the examination cycle I would suggest that every candidate must join a very good test series for essay which can help him improve over a period of time because when he will get the marks in front of him he will always have the thrust to improve upon and he will get to know his weak areas and his strength areas. So this is suggested from my side. Now another very important part of the essay paper is the language which you have to use in the essay. Now UPAC paper the candidates who write in the most simplest form are very very high scoring essays. So this is very important that you must know that you do not have to write a flowery language you have to write a very high standard of English that is not required in UPAC. UPAC requires commonsensical essays, it requires the essays to touch the ground reality, it requires an essay which is very very compatible and easy to read for the examiner. So I would suggest that you must be very simple in your language and you must be able to have a connect with the examiner and you have to suppose this thing when you are writing in the examination hall that you are having a conversation you are trying to make a point to your friend. So that must be the simplest of the approach while writing the essay paper. So the language must be simple and concise. Now another very important part of the essay paper is how to proportionate, how to divide it into different parts. So there are basically three parts of an essay. The first part is the introduction part which should be around 10 to 15 percent of the total content then we come to the main body part which should be around 60 to 70 percent of the entire content and then we moved towards the conclusion which should be around 15 to 20 percent based on the topics. So first of all I would like to discuss about the introduction of an essay paper. Now introduction guides an examiner into the essay. So I would suggest that introduction should be very very catchy, it should be very attractive and you can use different techniques like you can start with a story or you can start with a quotation, good quotation by any famous thinker and you can start with a conversation also, you can start with a poem, you can start with an anecdote from your personal life. So this is very important because in the introduction part you make a connect with the examiner and that is very important when you guide him throughout the essay paper. So the introduction must be catchy, it must be attractive and it must be written in a very creative manner. Now coming to the main body part. Now main body part is the most important part of the essay paper because it is the basis of your evaluation of the essay because in that you will have the scope to go into the width and depth of a topic. Now here I would suggest that instead of focusing more upon the depth of the topic you must cover different dimensions and those dimensions can be derived from all the general studies paper. For example from general studies paper one you can derive the geographical dimension, you can derive the social dimension from there, you can derive the historical dimension also. When it comes to paper two you can derive the political dimension and also the dimension related to the international relations. When it comes to general studies paper three you can derive the economic dimension, the security dimension, the environmental dimension and when you come to paper four you can touch upon the psychological and the ethical dimensions also. So in this way your essay topic, every topic has to be broken into different dimensions so that your essay appears to be multi-dimensional. Whenever the examiner moves to the next paragraph he finds a different thing. So that also is a very important thing which every candidate must keep in mind. Multi-dimensional essays don't focus on much of the depth, focus on touching upon important points which have to be covered in an essay and you have to have a multi-dimensional approach in this. And also when you are writing a paragraph you must ensure that you must not be writing very long paragraphs. Please restrict your paragraphs to around six to seven lines so that you can cover one dimension, one paragraph and it is easier for the examiner to move on to the next paragraph and read a different thing. So this is also very important to keep that connect going. So now it comes to conclusion. Now conclusion is a very important part of the essay in the sense that after reading your conclusion, first most important thing is that the examiner will be giving you the marks. And another important thing is that the examiner will be forming an impression about your personality. So that is very important. So I would suggest that in the conclusion you must write it in the form of a way forward that what vision do you have in the future for any subject. For example, I wrote an essay on poverty in section A this year's paper. So I have to suggest a model going forward. I have to suggest a vision going forward which would be helpful to eliminating poverty in India. So this is very important. You show your perspective in the conclusion part. You show your vision. You show your personality. So I would suggest that you must end on a positive note. You must be hopeful of every issue which is being described in the essay paper. In this way, conclusions should be futuristic. It must be visionary and it must be positive. So this is my tip for the conclusion part. Now, when it comes to value addition, I would suggest to the candidates that a few pointers you must always keep in mind. The most important thing is that you must be able to use some of the very good examples, some of the very good case studies which are happening in the country also abroad. And if you have some personal life examples, you must not feel shy to bring it on the paper. So that is also very important because essay paper is one where you have to compete among around 10 to 12,000 students and your essay must stand out. So the creativity part becomes very important. If you are creative, your essay will stand out from the bundle of copies. So this is important. And another value addition can be done by mentioning Supreme Court judgments, constitutional articles. There is any expert committee. You can mention a few recommendations of that expert committee or you can mention some of the observations of any expert committee. So in this way, you try to include such things in your essay and sprinkle it over through an entire essay so that the examiner has this point of view of yours that this candidate is aware about the theory part but he is also very practical. And he is talking about very, very ground reality things which are happening in day-to-day life. So this is very important and the candidate must keep in mind that actually in the essay paper you are not showing off your knowledge but you have to show your wisdom. That wisdom is very important. That will impact the examiner. And if the examiner is amazed, he will not feel shy to give you even 150 plus marks. So that must be kept in mind. And another very important aspect of the essay paper is choosing of the essay. So whenever I was preparing also, I would always had this doubt that out of four essays in every section which essay would I have to go for? Some of the people said that you must not choose your optional subject essay. Otherwise you will write in a single dimension. Another people, other people were saying that if you choose an essay which very less people are attempting, you may do well. So these things are very, very bogus things and you must not care about these fundas in the market. My suggestion here is that you must choose an essay based upon your competence, based upon your aptitude and attitude about that subject. And if you have good material, good content in that subject and if you are comfortable in writing that whether it be your optional paper, if it is having an overlap, you must go for it because in essay paper the more you are comfortable in writing an essay, the better you will write because it is all about creativity and creativity is at its maximum when you are very comfortable. So this is another important tip from my side. Then moving to the next part is note making. Now note making, many of the people suggest that essay, you have to only write and practice and you can do well and there is no scope for note picking. But I can suggest that if you are having problem in the essay paper, you can make very short notes about different sectors. So that is important because there are certain sectors which are always asked in a cyclical manner in the UPSE. For example, women, education, health, poverty, et cetera. So you can make very, very short notes. You means suppose if we take the example of poverty, we can mention some of the statistics, we can write some of the government initiatives. So that can be done also. So you have to ensure if you are going for the note making, be sure that it should be concise and you can form very good introduction and conclusion in those short topics. And if in the cushion paper, if a topic of the essay is overlapping from your notes, you will feel more comfortable while writing the essay. So this is another suggestion from my side. Another important area about having a command over the essay paper is to read more and more essays. And the best source to read the essays is the newspaper articles because they are written in the form of essays. You must ensure that you read the newspapers like the Hindu and the Indian Express and go into the mindset of the writer that what does he wants to convey and how beautifully he is conveying. And you can always take a clue from those writers because they have an experience spanning over 10 to 15 years. So that you can know that what thing makes it special and you can always borrow those things into an essay. Those will be very, very helpful. A good reader is a good writer. In short, I can say this. So this was my strategy for the essay paper. And going forward, my final tip to the candidates who are preparing for this examination. Essay paper is very important in the sense that you can score very good marks in essay paper by minimum effort. So you must ensure that in the essay paper, you always take it as a priority. Don't leave out on the essay because many candidates, they score very good in the general studies paper or the optional paper. But even if your paper goes wrong, the essay will not come to his rescue. And if you have a good command over essay, you can always cover up for the shortfall in general studies or your optional. And essay paper is very, very rewarding also. The span of marks in essay paper, you can get even a 70 mark and you can also get a 160 also. So you have to ensure that you are writing good and always remember this thing that if you are writing your essays very nicely, you will have that spill over of benefit carrying over to the general studies paper and the optional papers also. So in this way, this paper is very, very significant. I would suggest the candidates to take it out on your priority basis. Please practice very, very much and join a good test series for continuous evaluation and improvement. And in this way, you can tackle the essay paper very, very comprehensively. I hope that this video was helpful for the candidates. All the very best. Thank you. Don't forget to subscribe with us and press the bell icon to never miss the video on Chanakya IES Academy.