Acing the optional: Part 2

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

― Winston S. Churchill

Once you delve into your optional, the prime challenge comprises of comprehensively covering the 2 papers, which have a wide array of syllabus. In this blog, we'd be looking at how Paper 1 could be effectively dealt within a stipulated time frame and explore the nitty gritty of course management.

My story: 

    Before prelims-The syllabus of anthropology formed the stepping stone to my preparation. Once I got the primary understanding of my subject from my classes, I divided it according to the syllabus to individually prepare chapters through advanced books and internet surfing. By the end of February, I was thorough with the smaller topics left in coaching classes, written with the scope of further addition with improvement in the knowledge bank.

    After prelims-The challenge after prelims was to arrange my pre acquired knowledge into worthy answers. 2 days after prelims, I started generating essay type answers on previous year questions. I went chapter wise and picked 3 most important questions from the chapter I was reading. Initially I used to self review my answers but eventually I developed an effective peer group for the purpose. 

Once Prelims results were out, I joined a test series of 6 tests, to further refine my answer writing(I am attaching my test copy for better understanding). In the meantime, I posted answers on telegram channels, continued my peer group answer writing and stressed on topics such as Physical Anthropology, which used to be my weaker sections.

    15 days before mains- I finished all the tests by this time and began compiling my notes into shorter versions. For final revisions, I reduced the bulk study material into a size of just 1 notebook for Paper 1. 

Sources for Paper 1:-

• Primary Sources- Previous Year Questions of past 20 years, Brain Tree Material, Class notes of Sosin Anthropology, Ember & Ember, Vivek Bhashme's Anthropology Simplified for UPSC and Akshat Jain's Anthropology Demystified.
• Secondary Sources:

1. Physical Anthropology(Chapter 9 to 12) : Selective reading of P. Nath, IGNOU sources and content addition from the internet. 
2. Important weblinks:
1. Articles from NCBI website (eg. Sickle Cell Anaemia)
2. Youtube documentaries on world tribes (eg. We Are What We Eat by NatGeo)
3. Government sites-NITI Aayog, MOTA, PDFs and Success stories of Schemes 
4. Wikipedia reading (for eg. chapter 1: Development of Anthropology)

What I learnt through the process- The SPICE to your optional:

1. Strategy: In your mind, you need to evaluate how much a particular topic weighs. Invest time accordingly and practice more for vital parts of the syllabus, for eg. Chapter 6 (Anthropological Theories) and Archeology  in Anthropology.
2. Presentation: To excel your marks, you don't just need good content but also innovative presentation. Use diagrams and flowcharts to the best of your abilities. Refer to Vivek Bhashme and Akshat Jain to effectively inculcate figures and flowcharts.( Here are some of my own for reference)
3. Intelligence & Inspiration: When going for this exam, an ounce of extra mental strength always helps. Don't give up on tough questions, instead use your prior knowledge to deal with the unexpected. For eg., let's say the question was "Contribution of Jane Goodall in studying primate behaviour( UPSC CSE 2020, Paper 1)", someone might be able to write common points such as establishment of links with human evolution, field work with primates etc., even without having much knowledge on the esteemed primatologist's major work.
4. Case Studies: A good example is the best sermon. Collect case studies in prior for topics such as physical anthropology, applied anthropology, marriage, religion etc.
5. Excellence from Exercises: As much as knowledge is important, hard work has no substitute in this paper. Don't practice to get it right once, practice until you get it wrong no more!

Questions that might pop up- FAQs:

1. Time needed to cover Paper 1: Ideally 2 months for one good reading in case of Anthropology. Though it might vary with your optional and one reading is just not enough. For optionals, go for as much as you can grasp in your timeline.
2. Note making: Start by making chapter wise notes and leave spaces for value addition. Later on, you can have a Q&A form of note making which is easier to revise. 
3. Should any chapter be left: Ideally, NO! But tough times might need tough measures. If you need to drop topics, don't leave bulk scoring parts such as Archeology. Go for smart options and eliminate topics which have lower weightage in previous years papers.
4. Balancing GS and Optional: If you are on a shorter deadline of preparations, balancing the two is inevitable. GS must form the bulk of your time as you first need to qualify Prelims too. But try and devote time to your optional before prelims so that you can wholeheartedly focus on answer writing once you are done with Prelims. Post prelims, devoting a greater chunk of time to optional would be a wiser strategy, as a single subject weighs 500 marks.
5. Self Doubts: Doubts kill more dreams that failures ever will. Self doubts are good if you take them as opportunities to improve yourself. Beyond that, they pay lesser utility.

In the end, remember that it is only a paper. Quoting from Kota Factory this time, as Sarika Ma'am said "The fear of an act is always bigger than the act itself", believe that there's no hurdle your perseverance can't cross. Just keep going!