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[Strategy] Anthropology Study-plan and Booklist by Dr.Vijay

(IAS) for UPSC Civil Service (Mains) Exam
PostedBySupportStaffOn06/06/2012@3:00pmInStudyplan|173Comments

Thisarticle,isacompilationofgemsgivenbyDr.K.Vijayakarthikeyan(AIR22/CSE2010)
ontheIOforum.Atpresent,HeisanIASofficerinTamilnaducadre.

1. Disclaimer
2. Advantagesofanthropology
3. GettingstartedwithAnthropology
4. Preparationofanthropology(mains)
5. Usefulbooks
6. AbouttheseBooks
7. Tipsforanthropologypreparation
8. Importanceofdiagramsinanthropologyanswerwriting

Disclaimer
Itscompletelybasedonmyanthrostrategywhichhelpedme(Dr.Vijay)get375marksin
Anthropology,in1stattemptincse2010,itworkedwonderswithme,itmayormaynotwork
withyou
Advantagesofanthropology

1. Scoringsubject
2. Interestingsubject
3. EasytograspespeciallyForsciencegraduates

Getting started with Anthropology

Anthropologyisdividedintotwopapers

Paper1

1. Physicalanthropology
a. prehistoryevolutionofman,
b. biologicalconceptsofman,
c. geneticsanddiseases,
d. race
2. Socialanthropology(sociologyrelated)
a. family,marriage,religion,kinshipetc
Dr.Vijay,IAS 3. Theories
4. Miscdemography,researchmethodologyetc

Paper2

1. Prehistoryinindia
2. Indiansocialsystem
3. Indiantribesandtheirproblems
MrunalEdit:

EntiresyllabusofAnthropologycanbeseenonthePage8ofUPSC2012
Notification(ClickmetodownloadPDF).
IGNOUalsorunM.A.inAnthropologybutunfortunatelyitseemstheyvenot
uploadedthePDFmaterialonwww.egyankosh.ac.in,astheydidwithHistory,
SociologyandPublicAdministration.

Preparation of anthropology (mains)

Itsadvisabletostartanthropreparationasearlyaspossibleaftertheupscpreliminary
examinationandwithfocussed,systematicstudyonecancompletethesubjectbyendofaugust.
Usefulbooks

1. P.Nath(preferred)/dasforphysicalanthropology.Nathisveryusefulformisctopicsalso
2. Socialanthropologybymajumdar/madan
3. Makhanjhasbookofanthropologytheories
4. IndiananthropologybyR.N.Sharma
5. IndiananthropologybyNadeemHasnan

AbouttheseBooks

1. isinterestingbutnotcommissionexamoriented.Justkeepglancingatitwhenufeel
boredwithotherstuffthatsmorethanenough.Donotwastetimetryingtocramitlineby
line.
2. R.n.sharmaisgoodfortribaltopics,alsogetholdmuniratnamsirsnotesplusdokeep
updatingandmakenotesfrommin.Oftribalaffairswebsiteswrttribal
legislations,schemes
3. P.nathisgoodforthegenetics/biologypart
4. MakhanJhaisanessentialbookastherearenogoodbooksavailableexclusivelyfor
theories)alsomakeuseofinternetandpreparenotesfortheoriesgiveninunionpublic
servicecommissionsyllabusthatarenotinmakhanjha.
5. Das/nathhavesimplediagramsforphysicalpartbutpartsarenotmarkedinboth.Thereis
aphysicalanthrobookbyr.n.sharmawhichhaswellmarkedpartsbutinsteadofbuying
thatbookjustfordiagrams,isuggestyouseethetopicindas/nathandthengooglethe
topic(eg.Neanderthalskull)youlgetbeautifuldiagrams.fordiagramsonprehistoric
tools,anoutlineofindianprehistorybyd.k.bhattacharyaisgoodbutagaininsteadof
gettingthebookyoucangetitfromtheinternet.Mostofmyflowchartsareresultofmy
ownthoughtsijustmakeapictographicrepresentationofthewholebroadconcept,didnt
referanywhereforit.

Tips for anthropology preparation

Trytostartpreparationassoonasupscpreliminaryexaminationareover(thatsthereason
formepostingnow)insteadofchoosingitlateandfeelingsorrybetterstartyour
preparationasap.Ifinishedthewholethingin4months.
Tryattemptingphysicalanthrobasedandtheorybasedquestionsasmuchas
possible.fromwhatiknow,sociobasedquestionsfetchlessermarkscomparitively(i
avoidedquestionslikethoseonoriginoflanguageintheexameventhoughiknewit)
 Whenyoucomeacrossacasestudy,noteitdownasuseitatappropriatetopicswhereyou
areexpectedtoexplaintheconcept
Practicediagramsforphysicalpart,diagramswillultimatelyfetchusmoremarks
Donotignoretheoriespart,selectivestudyisalwaysdangerous
Trytomakegoodnotesfortheoriesandmiscpartasgoodmaterialisnotavailablein
market.
Keepupdatingthelatesttrendsanddevelopmentsinanthropologyfrom
newspaper/magazinesandinternet

Importance of diagrams in anthropology answer writing

Itsmorecatchyandprovidesmoreinformation,savesexaminerstimealsoifhefinds
yourdiagramtobeverygood,helbemoreinclinedtolikeyourdescriptiontoo..Soasfar
asphysicalanthroisconcerned,neatdiagramswilldefinitelygiveusanedgeoverothers..
Sopracticediagrams
Bydiagramsimeantanatomicalskull,vertebra,bones,teethdiagramswhenweareasked
towriteaboutprehistoricman,alsoagoodcomparativediagramwithmodernmanalso
canbegiven(dependingonquestion).forquestionsonprehistoricstagesyoucangive
gooddiagramsofthetoolsusedthen,aroughpictureofthehabitat,somepicturesof
artefactsfoundetc..Itseasiertodrawdiagramsandthenexplain.
Justreadthetheorypartthenspend5minsforlookingatthediagram,thentryanddoa
roughsketch..15mins/dayforthediagramsshouldbemorethanenough..Thattooits
onlywhenyoureadthephysicalpart..
diagramsareimportant(forphysicalanthropartonly)becauseyoucandrawapictureand
explainthingseasilythanwritingparasandparas(savestimetoo).Italsoshowsthatyou
knowtheconceptbetter.Nobodywillreduceyourmarksfornotdrawing,butyouare
boundtogetmoreifugiveneatsketches.Soifyouwantreallyhighscoresthenyouhave
topayattentiontoit.
Fornonphysicalanthropartgivesomepictorialadditionslikeacycle(eg.Bonded
labourquestionin2010)/flowchartthatwaywehaveanedgeoverothers
Question:Isitrequiredtodrawskeletonsanddentitionforquestionsonneanderthals,
australopithecinesetc??Answer.Yes..Diagramswilldefinitelyfetchyoumoremarks..
focussedpreparationwithgoodstrategyandguidancewilldefinitelysucceed

From vishal singh

Mydrawingskillsarequitepoorandihadlittlepriorexposuretobiology(apartfromncertand
thegeneralstuff).Idecidedtotakeanthropologyjustbeforeupscpreliminaryexamination
resultswereoutinaugust2010.Somebodysuggestedmetoreadember&embertohavean
ideaaboutanthropology,ifounditveryinteresting,intuitiveandstructured.Itwasalreadytoo
late,ihadtwomonthstimetoprepare,thattoowithoutcoaching.Althoughmymainstotalof
278(150+128)isnotveryimpressive,itismorethanwhatoneexpectstomanageintwo
monthstime.Iregretthatistarteditsolate.

Thebottomlineisthatifyoufindthesubjectinterestingandhaverightaptitude,youcan
prepareitfromscratchevenifyouveanonlifesciencebackground.Drawingisnotamatterof
concernasthereareonlyafewdrawingstobepreparedwhichcanbepracticedovertime.More
importantistounderstandthechangesinfeatures(inhumananatomyaswellasintoolsetc.)
Anditseffectonphysicalandculturalevolution.Allthatcanbemanaged,providedyouhave
sufficienttimeandwillingtoputefforts.

Nishi Sharma update (November-06-2012)

Syllabusshoulddoneinthissequencetounderstandthetopicsinbettermannerandinlesser
time.
1Intro

2Biology

3Research
4Caste

5Tribals

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