sazn015 How towriteakick-ass essay? | SAGAR UPADHYAY How To Write A Kick-Ass Essay? Friends, I have already blurted out that I won’t be going for Civil services exams anymore. So, Ihave decided to share some of my ‘sacred-tactics’ which I learned through my experiences while preparing for this exam. One of the oft-asked question which haunts any CSE aspirant is ‘How to write a kick-ass essay?’ and by ‘kick-ass’ I mean the essay which can fetch you awesome marks. Unfortunately, like any other aspect of this exam, you can't be 100% sure of getting awesome marks even after writing a jaw-dropping essay. But still, a well structured essay without any technical blunders is bound to fetch you more than average marks. But before I start, I should remind you of the golden rule (which Iwill be reminding you pretty often)- Practice makes a man perfect. And the technique that I am going to tell you solely depends on practice. The more you will do it, the more you will earn from it. And yes, It’s worth it! So, let’s start with the usual everyone-knows-it-but-noone-follows-it type of rules for essay writing in Civil services Examination. 1. Always use simple language. Use short sentences, No decoration. No flamboyance. 2. Avoid using too much of technical words. You may be an engineer or doctor but the copy-checker may be a philosopher. 3. Don't get distracted. Always focus on your topic and what is being asked. Don’t try to make ‘til ka taad’. 4. Don’t try to fill your essay with mere facts. 5. Plan your essay properly. Iwill be discussing mainly about point 5 because it’s the most important aspect here. But before the real show starts, let’s show the difference these rules can make. Read these two paragraphs and see for yourselves. Since the ‘heart-bleed bug’ has been dis many such encryption services have been revamped to remove the vulnerability and secure the implementation of Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol but there is still the fear of ry which may still be present in the system. That’s why online voting is ‘overed in the OpenSSL cryptographic library, any other vulnerab arisky concept. Fntpttsmesager.m20'5108/30hhow-to-write-«-kick-ass-essay! 18sor2015 How to write akick-ass essay?| SAGAR UPADHYAY With the current infrastructure that we have, online voting may be a risky concept. As an example, the recent ‘heart-bleed bug’ that was found in many web services was too dangerous. It has lead to apprehensions about many such bugs that may be lying around. (I might have gone a tad too overboard, but I can’t help it. :D) Now, let’s move on to the real deal - How to plan your essay properly? While writing an essay, it always helps to have a preset structure. However, there are some people who think that having a preset structure removes the taste from essay, but I don’t agree to that. In fact, having a preset structure helps you plan your time effectively and jot down the points in a more efficient way. That’s why I use a fixed essay structure and believe me — having it is like half the job done already! Structure of an essay is like backbone of the body A body lacking backbone can’t bear any load — leave alone the load of UPSC preparations! ‘And having a sturdy and well planned structure will make your essay a kick-ass one without much effort. You have to just fill up the blocks. Moreover, if you think it will make all your essays look alike, Mister, you are wrong! And you will see for yourself why. Thave made this structure after doing research from a number of places and then improvising on it a bit. Structure of the essay- 1. Introduction 1. Definitions 2. Interpretations 3. Thesis Statement 4. Thesis Connector 2. Mini-thesis 1 1. Supporting arguments 2. Supporting examples 3. Mini-thesis connector 3. Mini-thesis 2 1. Supporting arguments 2. Supporting examples 3. Mini-thesis connector 4. Mini-thesis 3 1. Supporting arguments Fntpttsmesager.m20'5108/30hhow-to-write-«-kick-ass-essay! 28‘azvants How to wie akick-s8 05s? SAGAR UPADHYAY 2. Supporting examples 3. Mini-thesis connector 5. Conclusion 1. Thesis restatements 2. The 3. Concluding remark connector restatement And you are done! Hey.. don’t look at me with that puzzled face! Keep calm and be cool as I will explain each step one by one. Let’s write the essay on ‘Science and Technology is a panacea to present day growth and security challenges’. Now that we have topic we can start planning our essay. And planning starts with asking the right questions. Ask yourself these questions first- Do you understand the topic clearly? Do you agree to the topic? (In this example- Is science really a panacea or not?) Do you agree conditionally or unconditionally? Why you do/don’t agree to the topic? Think about these questions thoroughly and write down any important points that come to your mind. You will need these points later on. Now that you have done your thought process, let’s move forward. Break your topic into smaller parts. And then define them. In this example, I can break them into ~ science and technology, panacea, growth challenges and security challenges. Define each and every one of them in 1-2 sentences. What do you mean by panacea? What are the growth challenges ete. Interpretations Interpretations are extremely necessary. Examiner must know your angle of view before judging your essay and hence, you must express it. Always remember- Essays are personal opinions with arguments. For that, you have to tell how are you interpreting things. In this case, you may interpret the growth & security challenges of India, of the world, of a city. Similarly, you may interpret panacea as ‘complete solution’ or ‘complete solution provider’. Its on you and will decide how you will proceed further. And now the most important part- Fntpttsmesager.m20'5108/30hhow-to-write-«-kick-ass-essay! 38sazn015 How towriteakick-ass essay? | SAGAR UPADHYAY Thesis Statement ‘As [have already said that essays are basically opinions backed up with facts, so you have to clear your stand in the very beginning itself. Answer the question asked in the topic. Make up your stand and make it loud and clear in front of examiner. This is important. An essay without thesis statement is like a body without soul. Give your essay’s body a clear and beautiful thesis statement. For example, in this case, the thesis statement will be — “Despite of all the technological advancements and their associated benefits, Science and Technology can not be said to be the panacea for all the security and growth challenges of present day.” Here I have taken a negative stand but you can take a positive stand too. Taking your stand will help you in further steering your essay. But, Your main task in writing an essay is to make the examiner agree to your thesis statement. And for that, you need arguments. Solid-examples-backed-up-well-balanced arguments. That’s why essay writing is an art and science at the same time. You have to create something beautiful and original. We will talk about the ‘Thesis connectors’ later on. Before that, let’s talk about- Mini-Thesis ‘As I said, you have to provide arguments in support of your thesis statement. Just because ‘you’ said that science is not a panacea, no one is going to believe you. It’s not your Facebook wall where people believe each and every thing you write, but it’s a much less trustworthy arena of civil services essays. So for our thesis statement, we have to come up with 3-4 core arguments which we will call mini-thesis. Why mini-thesis? Because they will be backed up by further examples and arguments. Why 3 mini-thesis? Because it looks good. It follows 5 paragraph principle of essay writing. Less than that will be insufficient and more than that will be too much to think. But you can come up with up-to § mini-thesis. However, always remember- Fntpttsmesager.m20'5108/30hhow-to-write-«-kick-ass-essay! 48‘azvants How to wit Kick 808071 SAGAR UPADHYAY Redundant ideas, poor spaling and bad grammar are the spoilers. And yes, repeated ideas is also the spoilers. (Please note the deliberate mistakes in the above quote, if you haven't already :)) Only enough practice can save you from them. In this example, one mini-thesis could be- “Science is not an independent entity to act towards growth and security challenges, it needs cooperation from political leadership too.” Can you see it now? Here this mini-thesis is supporting my main thesis statement. Another mini-thesis statement could be- “Neither Technology nor the growth and security challenges are static in nature. As the technology is evolving day by day, so are the challenges.” Now make the third mini-thesis yourself as an exercise. I would like to see that in the comments. How to check whether your mini-thesis is correct or not?It may occur to you whether your mini-thesis is pointing in the right direction or not. Fortunately, there is an easy way to check that. Fill up this template and see if it feels right (Thesis statement) because (mini thesis statement) Lets take an example. | will use my main thesis statement and my mini-thesis statement 1 to. check if it feels right. Despite of all the technological advancements and their associated benefits, Science and Technology can not be said to be the panacea for all the security and growth challenges of present day. because Science is not an independent entity to act towards growth and security challenges, it needs cooperation from political leadership too. I think you have got my point now. Supporting Arguments and Examples ‘As you can see that your ‘mini-thesis’ are after all, thesis statements. They still need to be argued and shouted and fighted in order to give them their literary-rights! You have to give balanced arguments and examples from all the relevant fields. Make it glorious and wonderful. Show all of your creativity. For example, in support of my first mini-thesis, I can give example of the cold war era when Fntpttsmesager.m20'5108/30hhow-to-write-«-kick-ass-essay! 58‘azvants How to wit Kick 808071 SAGAR UPADHYAY the drastic technological advancements were a result of strong political will. Then I can give example of Digital India— Technology was there already but it came as a solution only after political will. There are many such examples. You just have to look for it. Give at least 3 such examples and supporting arguments for each mini-thesis. This is the part that makes the real ‘body’ of your essay. I would like to know the examples that you would have given for my second mini-thesis. Do write in comments if you want. Thesis Connectors By now you have got all the building blocks for your essay, but to make it a ‘kick-ass’ essay, you have to connect those blocks. The connectors will help to make smooth transitions between those blocks rather than rough uncomfortable jumps. These connectors are statements or short para that will end the ongoing discussion while introducing the next thing we are going to talk about. But how to make those connectors? Simple. Make a short para containing your thesis statement and the sneak-peek of your mini- thesis. In this example, it could be something like- “Panacea means a complete solution and Science can't be taken as a complete solution. The reasons lies in both the solution and the problem. The problem is dynamic, ever changing. For a dynamic problem, we need a dynamic solution and that too a futuristic solution. If we can’t solve a problem before the problem even arises, we can’t call it a panacea. Another reason is the dependence of technology on other fields to act as a ‘full-fledged’ solution. Science is not independent in the society nor is the polity unaffected by science. Both of them have to complement each other. ” — And then write your mini-thesis 1 in bold/ underline. Similarly, you have to write the mini-thesis connectors. Thesis Restatements and Concluding remark Now you are in your concluding part. The game is almost over and you have made your impression. Now you have to give a smooth ending to your masterpiece. Because what starts well has to end well, right? Start this end with a thesis restatement. Restate your thesis in other words such that content remains the same. This reiterates your foundation on which this essay is based. However, try to show optimism in your conclusion. In this example, this can be done as- “Science and technology is changing our world more than it has done ever solving numbers and numbers of challenges. However, ever changing growth and security challenges, dependence of science and technology on a number of factors to be really effective stops it Fntpttsmesager.m20'5108/30hhow-to-write-«-kick-ass-essay! 88sazn015 How towriteakick-ass essay? | SAGAR UPADHYAY from being a panacea, the complete solution.” The concluding remark has to be too generalized, preferably related to humanity. It will be the last sentence of your essay. It can be something like- “Science has always been humanity's companion, sometimes as a boon, sometimes as a bane. But its infinite capabilities can’t be denied to make tomorrow a much better place compared to what today is.” So, that is how you will plan your essay. And after planning in such an excruciating detail, writing your essay will be super smooth if not a pleasure! So Hop on! Before I end this post, let’s have a quick diagrammatic representation. Thesis Statement Arguments Arguments Arguments + + + Examples Examples Examples Neither do I say that this is the only way to write nor is it the best one. This is the method which I liked and adopted. You may go for it, may not go for it or may come up with something that develops from this one! You are free to do that. Do experiments and practice alot. Because that’s how you will secure your place in the coveted list. So dear folks, thanks for reading this. If you have any doubts, you can always drop a comment down here. If [have missed something, do mention in the comments and I will add those points in this post. Fntpttsmesager.m20'5108/30hhow-to-write-«-kick-ass-essay! 78‘azvants How to wit Kick 808071 SAGAR UPADHYAY One more thing, please spread the word as much as possible. I will be more than thankful to you. :) And if you are ‘the doer’ rather than just ‘the listener’, I would like to see your structure for the following essays in the comments- 1. India is the superpower of tomorrow 2. Corruption is a necessary evil 3. First step in revamping democracy is revamping media Like this: Like Loading... Excerpted from How to write a kick-ass essay? | SAGAR UPADHYAY hhntp:/itsmesagar.me/2015/09/30/how-to-write-a-kick-ass-essay/ Reapaniurty — An Arego Laboratory Experiment http://lab.arego.com/experiments/readability Fntpttsmesager.m20'5108/30hhow-to-write-«-kick-ass-essay! a8