What and How to Read?

What to Read?

  • Geography: Treat them as the bible for the geography section of the Prelims and the Mains examination. Learn all the maps, rivers, mountain ranges, passes, etc.
  • Art and Culture: NCERT of the 11th standard is very important for the mains examination and it covers the “art and culture” section of the GS Paper I.
  • Polity: Don’t make notes from here just read it as an important book for the Essay writing exercise of the Mains examination. It is more on the philosophical lines than the factual one.
  • Sociology: NCERT books will provide the idea that how our society is continuously evolving into new moving equilibrium and there are many conflicts, many perspectives and the explanation to the many social factors especially issues related to the women, children, caste, class, deprived section of the society, etc. Therefore, read them according to the GS Paper I Mains syllabus and its society part.
  • History: In the History books, read it from the Prelims and Mains perspective in different ways, however, common to both is the timeline. Therefore, here factual knowledge is very important along with some contextual memory.
  • Environment and Biology: NCERT books are important because every year about 10-15 questions will be from this area.

How to Read?

  • 1st Reading While for the first time you’re reading books, read them like a novel. Highlight the important points using a highlighter. Keep a dictionary handy. If you come across any difficult word, look it up immediately. If you don’t understand a specific concept, use Google and read up about it.
  • For instance, if you’re studying about the various Government schemes and policies, you should focus on advantages & disadvantages of the policy, need for that policy and its approach. If you’re studying about a specific industry, your focus should be on the location of the industry, the factors affecting its location, challenges faced, opportunities and its current situation.
  • 2nd Reading: Give a gap of about 2 to 3 days after your first reading, before you begin your second reading. During your 2nd reading, ignore the unwanted details and focus on the notes you had highlighted during your 1st reading. It’s a good idea to try and recall whatever you learnt during your 1st reading before revising each chapter.
  • 3rd Reading: Now that you’re done with your second reading, it’s time to summarize what you have studied. The 3rd reading should be relatively faster than the 1st and 2nd. During the 3rd reading, glance through each chapters’ highlighted parts. Try and relate the concepts you’re studying to current affairs, and connect the dots.
  • It’s important that you know what information to highlight and what to ignore. This can be done by analysing the previous year question papers. Analysing previous years’ question papers will help you understand the type of questions asked under each topic.

Old NCERTs v/s New NCERTs

Aspirants get confused as to which NCERTs to study for preparation. Here is the difference between these two:

  • Old NCERTs
    • They are huge books
    • To the point approach and not a good explanation for the subject
    • Contains lots of facts, which is useful for Prelims
    • If you are reading the photocopy of an old NCERT book, all the maps and diagrams will be in black and white which makes it a bit hard to understand them
  • New NCERTs
    • Updated information on ever changing topics
    • Less facts and very subjective in nature, explanation is good
    • New ones contain more diagrams and illustrations for better understanding
    • The only difference between both depends on one's own strategy or way of approach and style of preparation, if you like to read point-wise material and facts, you need to go for old NCERTs. If you like to read subjective approach with good explanations and all, go for new NCERTs.
  • So, if you have already bought new NCERTs, don't worry, that will do a good job. Start as early as possible and finish them and revise again.

Dealing with the Vast CSE Syllabus

Students across the nation who choose to study for the Civil Services Exam administered by the UPSC frequently encounter a variety of questions. ‘What is the syllabus?’ ‘How to Prepare?’ and so on.

  • In reality, before starting their preparation, a Civil Services applicant should visit the UPSC website and get acquainted with the indicative syllabus as provided in the notification for the Civil Services Examination.
  • It is crucial to focus your preparation for the Civil Services Examination as per the syllabus. In order to fulfil the requirements of the exam, one must effectively channelize his/her efforts.
  • Let’s recollect our college days - was it not important to go through the syllabus copy of our semesters in detail? The Civil Services Examination conducted by the UPSC is no exception.
  • For instance, there is a common misunderstanding that World History is also included in General Studies- I syllabus of the Prelims examination, but in reality, these topics are only covered in the Mains examination. Therefore, it's vital to have a thorough comprehension of the syllabus's nature, scope, and extent.
  • One may grasp what to read, what not to read, and what sources they should consult thanks to the objective clarity that comes from studying the UPSC syllabus. This applies to the optional subjects as well.

What should one do?

  • Taking a printout of the Civil Services Examination curriculum and keeping it handy/pinning it in your study area is very helpful for applicants. This makes sure that students are aware of the syllabus and, where possible, at the absolute least, give it a cursory read.
  • Aspirants should split down each topic into its component parts and use specialised sources for each topic. Aspirants would find it simpler to traverse the extensive UPSC syllabus for the Civil Services Examination once this broad framework is in place.
  • Further, an analysis of question papers from previous years helps one to put the syllabus into better perspective, as often, the true breadth and depth of the syllabus can be better ascertained after analysing questions which have been asked around the concerned topics.

IAS/PCS Preparation Tips/Tricks