UPSC Civil Services Main Exam 2020: Know that the preliminary examination of Civil Services is going to be held on 31st May.2020. The students who will be successful in this examination will make their place for the second stage of the examination. The candidates who qualify in the preliminary examination will be invited to appear for the IAS Main Examination, which is going to be held from 18th September 2020.
It is worth noting that while the preliminary exam is completely objective (MCQ), the main exam is descriptive and questions with different word limits are asked. This is the reason that good writing style is also considered as an important ability to succeed in the main examination. While the nature of the preliminary examination is qualifying, the marks obtained in the main examination are added to the final merit list. Therefore, this phase of the examination is very important and decisive to a large extent.
Importance of Optional Subject For UPSC Civil Services Main Examination.
Many candidates may think that general studies is of 1000 marks and the elective subject is only 500 marks, so candidates should give more emphasis on general studies. Those who say so may not understand the strategic importance of the elective subject. In this exam, it does not matter how many marks a candidate has scored.
The importance is only on how few or more marks a candidate has scored compared to other competitors. The importance of the optional subject itself becomes clear. Keep in mind that you can get these benefits only if you have chosen the optional subject very carefully.
Why Hindi Literature is a Great Alternative Subject!
Hindi literature is undoubtedly the best subject for Hindi medium candidates. The proof of this is that in the last few years civil services examination results, most of the starting ranks of Hindi medium belong to the same candidates who had selected this subject.
2014 Hindi medium topper Nishant Jain scored 313 out of 500 in this subject, which are the highest marks in any subject other than Mathematics. Needless to say that Hindi literature played a major role in Nishant’s unprecedented success.
Hindi Subject is small and can be prepared majorly in just three-four months and there is no need to make any changes in its answers from year to year. The answers are not completely objective. Even if the candidate does not know the answer to any questions, he can score well by writing answers from his making as Hindi comes naturally to many. The result of these benefits is that even weak candidates of Hindi literature score as many marks as good candidates in subjects like public administration, sociology, political science and economics.
Best Writing Strategy of Hindi Literature Answer Writing.
- While writing the answer in Hindi literature question paper, remember the fact that the answer writing should be systematic and there should be synthesis in it.
- While writing the answer, do not forget to give as many examples as possible to confirm the statement you use in the answers.
- If important, related quotations must be written in the answers to a question. If you forgot the quotation, you can also write half or quarter quotations by putting a single inverted comma.
- Write your answer in paragraph form, avoid writing in bullet points. Try to write the paragraph neatly and grammatically error-free. Keep the flow in the sentences.
- If you want, write important facts and underline them.
- Before going to the exam, think in advance about which section you will do more questions. It depends on your choice, interest and knowledge.
- Use simple language as far as possible, but do not refrain from using literary language if necessary.
- Revision is mandatory, so after the end of the course, repeat it twice or four times.
- For revision, you can make use of visual diagrams like mind maps, flashcards, and Venn diagrams. This will help in the retention of facts for a longer time.
- Make short notes while detailed study. This will be useful during revision. Make brief notes while reading.
- Be sure to read the original book if you get sufficient time.
- Make sure to repeat the entire syllabus to avoid unnecessary expansion before the exam.
- At the time of writing the answer, try to solve the question paper sequentially. Because testers would also naturally like to check the same order.
Hindi paper does not have the same shortage of time as GS paper, so try to solve the entire question paper.