How to Write General Essay to Get a Government Job?

‘Writing General Essay’ is a challenge for most of the aspirants of APPSC, TSPSC, UPSC, and any other aspirant. But it fetches more marks when you follow certain directions. A General Essay is a written argument discussion or narration about a specific topic. The purpose is to express something about an issue or a topic in a clear, logical manner so that the reader understands the writer's point of view and is convinced that it makes sense.

How to Select the Topic to Write Essay?

There are two ways to select a topic. They are 1) selecting the familiar topics and 2) selecting an unconventional topic. You can adopt one of the two strategies based on your strengths and weaknesses. You should not select easy topics, topics that can be written by many candidates, and regular GS topics.

You may choose familiar topics from the given choices. These include topics from your regular syllabus such as economics or any current affairs topic. But all candidates are well aware of these familiar topics. If you can arrange your thoughts into a well-structured framework, then you will score more marks. But if your content and structure of the essay are similar to other candidates, you and others will get almost the same marks.

Unconventional topics are those that deal with philosophy related to reflection, ecology, human nature, etc. Here both structure and content are different from regular topics. If you have decent content with average skills in structuring the essay, you will get more marks. Your answer will be a refresher to the evaluator due to its unique presentation. However, it is not suited for all candidates. If you have analytical skills and organize the content dynamically without taking much time, you may attempt these kinds of topics.

Drafting of the Essay

In general, an Essay comprises three parts viz. Introduction, Body, and Conclusion. However, These three parts can be split into many sub-parts. All these parts should be coherent, logical, and well-connected to the subject.

There are many ways to write an introduction for an essay. A few ways are – Quotes, Anecdotes, Current Affairs, Data from Authentic Government Sources, and Asking Questions. Quotes of any famous person are one of the best ways to start an essay. The quote should be logically well-connected with the topic of the Essay. Anecdote means a short interesting story about a real person or event. If you start with a quote, explain the meaning of it. Then connect it to the essay topic. You can also integrate the topic with an anecdote, a story, or current events.

Body

The real content for an essay starts here. Before writing anything, prepare a rough copy encompassing all dimensions. If you don’t know anything about a topic, then write a para from the syllabus related to the topic. That means writing about historical factors, geographical factors, societal factors, political factors, Security aspects, etc. In this way, an essay has multiple dimensions. The essay should comprise government efforts, lacunas, and solutions to the problems mentioned.

Let us take an example – “Wiping every tear from every eye.” is the question asked. Then write the difficulties faced by the Indians before Independence and how our freedom fighters fought to wipe tears from us. Then write how the constitution and other laws are framed for untouchables and the general upliftment of the society. Write what economic measures are taken to increase the economic conditions of the people.

Background or Related History: For each topic, there will be some background. You should identify it and clearly connect it to the essay topic.

Core Theme of the Essay: You should explain each dimension and then integrate it with news or government measures, socio-economic problems, and probable solutions. The content should be inclined towards India's socio-economic problems and solutions.

Present Situation: You can write the existing provisions of the government, legislation, judgments, or international conventions.

Benefits / Positives / Advantages: You can write at least ten positive arguments regarding the essay topic.

Criticism / Negatives / Disadvantages: At least one false argument should be written against the topic. If you have written ten positive arguments, then at least five negative arguments can be written. But negative arguments should not be more than positive arguments.

Suggested Reforms: You no need to write your own reforms. ARC reports, Plan documents, NITI Aayog reports, etc surely contain a few reforms needed for any topic. You can write those reforms.

Conclusion

The conclusion is a summary of your entire essay. This should be optimistic, futuristic with positive. You can even use quotes in the concluding paragraph. The conclusion can be done with Mahatma Gandhi's quote or Indian Philosophy Sanskrit quotes.

Specific Instructions

• Spend at least 1/4th of the allocated time for arranging your thoughts and drafting the essay.
• Excessive Criticism or Excessive Praise should not be done.
• There is no such topic as Utopian. That means every topic should be criticized to an extent that is necessary.
• The conclusion should be optimistic. If you are sure that your pessimistic conclusion fetches you more marks, then you can follow it.