Basics of GS preparation

In Uncategorized on May 30, 2012 at 03:25

The following are some points that may be useful for GS preparation in general.
A more detailed unit wise strategy will be uploaded in another post.
As we all know, these days UPSC has made the GS paper very very challenging.
It has become dynamic and more opinion based. Students need to do an extensive
coverage of current affairs and they can t neglect the conventional aspect.
It is important to know the difference between a generalist and a specialist
. A generalist is a person who knows less and less of more and more , while a speci
alist is a person who knows more and more of less and less . The Civils Exam in the
GS paper is testing the Generalist approach.
One point that I would like to emphasize upon is how to use YOUR coaching cl
ass in your preparation. Please understand this very carefully that given the cu
rrent trend of GS paper, everything cannot be served on a platter. The student w
ill have to make a lot of effort from his side apart from attending the classes
and memorizing the class notes. The coaching will certainly help you in many way
s:
Gives you an approach to the subject. When you see the kind of questions
being asked in Test Series and you try and pin-point from where they were asked
, you understand what all to read in newspapers and magazines from exam point of
view. You understand how to study GS.
It strengthens your fundamentals. The conventional part of GS is more or
less static and you can pick that up at a faster pace with coaching classes.
It highlights issues of current importance. This way it does cover a lot
of portion of current affairs too. But the students will still have to cover a
lot on their own.
You will certainly be able to move at a faster pace with the coaching cl
ass.
Finally you can easily clarify your doubts with the faculty members in t
he class.
Some points from my personal experience in GS:
Study your class notes and Yellow Books multiple times. The current affa
irs material that would now be given for the Main Exam is especially very good a
nd should be studied carefully.
NCERT books for classes XI and XII (History, Geography, Polity, Economic
s, Sociology and World Politics). Try to attempt questions given at back.
You can refer to DD Basu, Economic Survey, India Year Book (especially i
mportant for Mains exam these days), Economy issue of PD, Atlas and Manorama Yea
r Book.
Newspaper reading is crucial given the current trend. You must try and m
ake your own hand-written notes. While reading newspapers observe the followingabbreviations; new terms; organisations; quotes and examples, which can be used
elsewhere; etc. It is very effective for retention and you are able to revise v
ery quickly. Read the editorials carefully and try and understand the main point
s. After reading, write a summary of the editorial in your notebook. This would
help you build your own opinion.
You can read selective articles from Frontline and Yojana. If you want t
o, then you may also look at some competitive magazine.
Internet can prove very useful especially for Science and Tech.
You may join a Test Series to practice writing and organizing answers. A
lso in test series, you learn to control your nervousness when faced with questi
ons that you do not know.
For India and the World- Understand the core issues between India and va
rious nations. The external relations can be structured into political, economic
, defence, cultural, S&T, etc. so prepare in these dimensions.

Answer writing in the Exam

You must form original opinions on matters of current interest around yo
u. Try and organize your answer in such a way that it appeals to the examiner.
You can use an intelligent mixture of paras and points in your answers.
You can make intelligent guesses to answers of questions you don t know bu
t do this in the end.
When direct questions come from conventional areas, you MUST attempt the
m very well since such questions would be attempted well by many other candidate
s. You cannot afford to lose unnecessary marks in this area. For instance, even
though less questions may be asked from History recently, that doesn t mean you ca
n now ignore History. In fact that means, you now need to be all the more carefu
l because if any direct question comes, you should be able to answer it correctl
y.
For current affairs, apart from current events in national and internati
onal sphere, focus on Govt. Policy decisions. Try and understand the rationale b
ehind the decisions. You must know both the positives and negatives of each acti
on of government.
For Paper-II, international affairs questions, it is useful if you first
give some historical aspect of the relations between the nations and then talk
about the current aspect. You can cover this area well from the Yellow Book.
Please remember that analysis of issues rather than mere memorization of
facts is becoming more and more important and that is what the examiner is look
ing for. Even if the question is factual, it is always a good idea to give some
analysis along with it.
Effort from your side
Earlier, I talked about the need to make a lot of effort from your side.
By that I mean, you must not only have a mastery over the class notes, but you
must always be open to new information from other sources. You cannot rely only
on material given in the class.
You must also try and visit the websites of ministries, spend a little t
ime on the Internet surfing for information of interest, read some news magazine
s and try and read at least the editorials from one other newspaper apart from T
he Hindu.
Newspaper Reading- This is very important.
In the end I just want to say, that for GS especially, do not judge your coachin
g class by the fact as to how many questions in the exam finally came from your
class discussions. Instead, you must judge the class based on whether it taught
you how to approach and handle the GS subject. Even though, the class will steer
you in the right direction, the hard-work has to be yours.