PREPARATION OF COMPETITIVE EXAMINATIONS

 

                                                     ENGLISH ESSAY

The importance of gaining expertise in writing a good essay can be judged from the fact that around 97 percent of candidates fail in the Essay paper. Those who pass the English essay paper are likely to be selected, despite scoring mere passing marks in the optional subjects.  In the English Essay, you are asked to write a COMPREHENSIVE ESSAY (2500 – 3500 words) on one of the given topics. In an essay, you are supposed to write easy, flowing, grammatically correct English without spelling mistakes and expressing your thoughts in a proper manner. Avoid difficult and obsolete diction because it defies the purpose of communication. The length of sentences should be reasonable; very long sentences are not welcome. Use a combination of medium and short sentences. The originality of thought has the maximum weightage.

 

Essay writing can be divided into the following four parts based on marking in CSS Exam.

1.     Discourse/ideas and thoughts presented in an essay 

2.     Structure of essay

3.     Making outline

4.     Principles and Qualities of a good essay

5.     Proficiency and competency in writing in English

 

Discourse/ideas and thoughts presented in an essay

Knowledge about the topic, maturity in your thoughts and ideas, based on the facts in support or support or oppose the topic, a multi-dimensional approach is expected from the writer. If you benefit from others’ views, give a reference. Make sure the quotation helps develop your thoughts and not merely for showing off your memory.  The purpose of essay writing is to check your ability to express in a logical, mature, rational, and structured manner. You should practice by writing essays on ordinary things and events, for example on a cigarette butt lying on the floor, or a bird perching on a tree.

 

Structure of an essay

 

Normally, an essay has three parts: Introduction, body and conclusion

 

Introduction
An essay generally starts with an introduction to the topic to provide a basic understanding of the subject matter: background, present status, various perspectives to maintain the reader’s (examiner) interest. The old way is to start an essay with a definition, literal meaning of the topic, or widely accepted interpretation of the topic. The modern essayist though starts an essay with a general explanation by writing the main attributes of the topic to introduce the topic. Choosing either way to write the introduction to the topic depends upon the subject matter of the essay. Yet, it is up to you to follow the classical model or start with an interesting statement.  

 

Body
It is the middle part of an essay that follows the introduction. It can consist of as many paragraphs as you can write or required. It is the larger part of the essay including all the argumentation, elaboration of ideas, reasoning, and explanations.

Moreover, the order of paragraphs should be in a proper sequence.

 

Conclusion

 The last part of the essay is the conclusion. It should sum up your ideas. It should not be too long or too short. It may consist of a paragraph or a little more. It is not a summary of your essay but the cognitive stuff that you want your reader to take with him.

 

Making an Outline

If you write down an outline of the essay you will not forget to elaborate on your ideas. An essay is a formal form of writing, therefore it should be well structured and an outline will keep it compact and to the point. You can enlist your main ideas in the form of numbered bullet points or sentences.

 

 

Principles and Qualities of a Good Essay

An essay is never written randomly but always according to certain principles. Besides, a good essay has certain qualities that make the essay interesting, appealing, and influential.

 

Unity: An essay, written on a particular topic, should have uniformity. All the ideas and thoughts expressed in the essay should be related to the topic. Similarly, each paragraph should have unity. Unity means that each paragraph should be about ONLY ONE idea. Different paragraphs have different ideas relating to the topic but each paragraph is confined to one idea. Never embed a different idea in a paragraph that explains a particular idea.

 

Coherence and Order: The ideas should be expressed in logical continuity. Coherence means that ideas flow smoothly from one sentence to the next sentence. Order is the logical sequence of ideas presented in the essay. Order of ideas means what should be written first and what should be written next. Ideas should be expressed in the proper order of importance or events.   

 

Avoid repetition of the same idea. Do not reproduce the same idea again and again which you have already narrated once in your essay. Repetition reveals a very bad impression on the reader. Similarly, it is better to use different words (noun, verbs, etc.) for the same meaning if it is repeated again and again.

 

Avoid unnecessary details and explanations. Always be focused on the subject matter and try to write to the point. Don’t try to elongate your explanation by giving unnecessary and irrelevant details. Your explanation may be neither too long nor too short but should be comprehensive and sufficient in knowledge about the topic.

 

Appropriate presentation of thoughts. The way you describe, explain, elaborate, or discuss an idea counts a lot. Always try to write in a simple, clear, and easily comprehensible manner. Never write ideas in a complicated manner. Write short and simple sentences instead of writing very long sentences containing many clauses. Writing on different dimensions of the subject matter should be in a way that each aspect should be fully unveiled so that there may be no room for ambiguity for the reader.

 

Proficiency and competency in writing in English

It is an open secret that writing standard English and grammatical accuracy plays a vital role in success in essay writing for CSS Examination. You should know the art of literary and scholarly writing. It needs a long discussion to expatiate about improving written English but let me give you some basic tips. Learn to use appropriate idioms at proper places. For earning grammatical accuracy in your writing, study English grammar thoroughly.     

 

 

                                                        CURRENT AFFAIRS

For Current Affairs, read daily Newspaper and listen to daily News. Study Pakistan’s relations with other countries. Good books like “who is who and what is what”,etc.,  are very helpful in general preparation. But, the knowledge in the books might be old, you should use Google to update information. Keep informed about what is going on in the country, the region, and the globe and how the international events are expected to affect our socio-economic conditions. Give unbiased and logically acceptable opinions.

 

                                                           EVERYDAY SCIENCE

For everyday science study the books of Matric/O-level and FSc/A-level. All the questions set in the paper of everyday science are extracted from these books. Questions are asked about the basic laws and principles of science.

 

                                                           PAKISTAN AFFAIRS

For Pakistan Affairs, you should study good books on Pak Studies, History, international relations, internal and external affairs, political and general events taking place in Pakistan.  Daily Newspapers and other good books like “The struggle of Pakistan by I.H Qureshi” ,etc., are advised.

 

                                                                   ISLAMIYAT
For Islamiyat study textbooks (bachelor and master level) as well as other Islamic books. Learn a lot of Hadees and Quranic verses with translation to write them in the answer as references. Study the basic concepts and knowledge of Islam. If you try to express your personal radical or ultra-liberal thoughts, you may lose marks, or the examiner who is normally a religious scholar make be offended and fail you altogether. Therefore, do not take risks and use the standard model of Islamiyat.

 

                                                       OPTIONAL SUBJECTS

 

Correct selection of papers from the optional subject is very important for obtaining good marks. Select those subjects that you have studied in your previous classes and those subjects which you have full command of. Study books of bachelor and master level for these subjects (if possible).  

 

  

 

Medical, Psychological Test and Viva Voce

 

 

Psychological Test.

All candidates called for Viva-Voce will be required to undergo a Psychological Test first, comprising written tests and group tasks. Such tests are designed to assess the abilities, attitude, and personality characteristics of the candidates with special regard to their aptitude for the Civil Services. Separate marks are not awarded for the Psychological assessment; however, it casts its shadow on the interview.  Candidates must bring their National Identity Cards and two copies of recent photographs when summoned for the Psychological Test, and Viva Voce. If a candidate remains absent in the Psychological Test, he/she will not be allowed to appear for the Viva Voce.

 

Viva Voce

Each candidate who qualifies for the written part of the examination will be interviewed by a Board. He/she will be asked questions on matters of general interest. The object of the interview is to assess the suitability of the candidate for the public service and judge his personality. The Board will attach particular importance to the moral and ethical qualities of the candidates, his/her intelligence and alertness of mind, his/her vigor and strength of character,

and his/her potential qualities of leadership.

All candidates are expected to have basic knowledge regarding Islam and Pakistan. Questions may be asked in the Interview on these subjects. The Non-Muslim candidates will not be asked any questions regarding Islam.

 

Qualifying marks in overall tests for eligibility for appointment. 

The Commission with prior approval of the Government may fix qualifying marks in any or all of the subjects of the examination but a candidate who fails to secure at least 40% marks in any compulsory subject, 33% marks in any of the optional subjects, or 50% marks in the aggregate and 100 marks at the Viva Voce, will be considered to have failed.