UPSC Anthropology optional tips by Ashish Kumar.*********************************************************** Name : Ashish kumar UPSC – CSE 2013 Rank : Rank 697 Optional Subject : Anthropology Marks Scored : 244 (125+119) Background : Post-graduate in Zoology from University of Delhi **************************************************************** Why I chose Anthropology as an optional? I’m a post-graduate in Zoology from University of Delhi. Because of Biology background it become easy to understand one very important and marks fetching portion of Anthropology called as Physical/Biological Anthropology which incidentally also make-up about 25% of the syllabus. So those candidates who have read Biology as a subject in graduation or those who are doctors can certainly consider Anthropology as an optional, although many engineers are doing reasonably well. Further, I have a bit of interest in reading and learning about tribal issues (as I’m from Jharkhand which has a substantial tribal population) and the issues pertaining to Indian society (as Anthropology is close to Sociology but more scientific in approach). Finally, I feel a good understanding of Anthropology helps in Essay paper. Recommended books or sources of study materials Printed notes from Vaid sir as base and built upon that wherever it is necessary. For that matter, any notes can be taken, for example, Braintree, Srinivas, Reddy etc. Basic recommended books: Books by Nadeem Hasnain on Indian Anthropology and Tribal India. Ember and Ember for general understanding of Anthropology. Nath for Physical Anthropology. For both paper 1 and 2, I made short and crisp notes on areas like Archaeology and hominid fossils which are very probable areas of asking questions, and you must have conceptual clarity here. The Physical Anthropology of paper 1 is marks fetching, therefore questions from this area must be attempted in examination. Make short notes on each sub-topics of this area.Paper 2 has become dynamic for the last 2 years so keep watch on the current happenings in newspapers which are related to the topics in syllabus. I also took help of internet for making short notes on various topics.Annual reports published in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and other governmental reports concerning with the welfare of SC, ST and minorities should be looked upon once. Role of coaching I had taken coaching at Vaid’s ICS by N.K. Vaid. But coaching has a limited role to play. Anthropology can be done without coaching too. Real hard work and smart study has to be done by the aspirant. Some portions of the Anthropology syllabus can be left untouched as probability of asking questions from them is very less. This saves your precious time and energy. One should do answer writing practice. Some guidance by any teacher or expert can be helpful. Answer writing in Anthropology All answers must have introduction and conclusion. These two things make your answer different from others. Conclusions should be something contemporary or optimistic. Questions in Archaeology should be answered in four parts: Time period, Tools and technology Regional variation Cultural advancements Social life of humans living at that time period Questions in human fossils should be answered in four parts: Meaning, time period, species Anatomical features Cultural developments Position in evolutionary line Insert any current developments such as governmental programs or incidents into your answers if question has been asked from related topic from Anthropology syllabus. This will give you edge over others. This applies especially for paper 2 With the change in pattern for Mains from Civil Services Exams, 2013, the choice of optional has become most crucial. Though it is being propagated that General Studies - as it carries more weightage now - will be the decider now, the fact is that most of the aspirants are on almost equal footing in GS. Therefore, an optional short in syllabus, easy to grasp and express as well as scoring should be the right choice. Experience shows that the candidates already preparing or have appeared in Mains previously, with two optionals, have more command in one of them, and therefore, are likely to retain it hence forth too. But freshers face a lot of confusion. Newspaper advertisements by coaching institutes promoting certain optionals without verifiable facts further complicate the matter for them. I, therefore, advice them to visit the UPSC website (www.upsc.gov.in), look at various syllabi and previous results, identify a few optionals, visit the institutes to directly talk to the experts in those optionals, meet some experienced candidates and then finalize. Here, with-out malaise towards others, I suggest you Anthropology, the subject close to my heart and which I have been teaching for the- list 33 years. What is Anthropology Literally speaking, anthropology is the scientific study of man. It studies social-cultural as well as biological aspects of man in terms of evolution and variation. The students with background in biological sciences, history and sociology are somewhat familiar with its subject matter. Because of it being social science of scientific nature, its approach is similar to that of geography and psychology. For the same reason many more engineers are inclined towards anthropology. The Syllabus The syllabus of Anthropology, in Employment News is placed along with Botany and seems double that of Botany. But any student of Botany will tell you that Botany is at least three times that of Anthropology. The syllabus can be put as follows : Paper i -Part 1 (Social-Cultural Anthropology) 1. Introduction 2. Basic Concepts 3. Institutions 4. Culture & Thought 5. Cultural Evolution 6. Epidemiology 7. Communication Anthropology 8. Research Methodology Paper-ii is much smaller Paper ii -Part 1 1. Cultural Evolution in India 2. Indian Population 3. Bases of Indian Social System 4.Growth of Anthropology in India 5. Indian Village & Basic Concepts The whole syllabus of both the Papers can be converted into about one hundred and twenty questions. You can not do so with any other subject. Anthropology, the TINA Factor There is no alternative (TINA) to anthropology for success in civil services examinations of Centre as well as states. For one, the syllabus is small and its revision accordingly take lesser time compared to other subjects. The time thus saved can be used to strengthen GS and Essay. In 2008 syllabus of almost all subjects was revised upward but Anthropology witnessed a cut of six major topics. Besides, Anthropology is the only subject that has consistently maintained above 10% results all through the last decade. In nutshell, you too can taste success through this most humanist discipline. This, however, is not an invitation to join Vaid's ICS. Recommen 1. Vaid : Social-Cultural Anthropology 2. B.M. Das : Physical Anthropology 3. NCERT : a) Indian Society b) Social Change 4. D. K. Bhattacharya : An Outline of Indian Prehistory 5. M.N. Srinivas: Caste in Modern India & Other Essays 6. Hasnain : a) Tribal India b) Indian Anthropology 7. Vaid : Who Cares for Tribal Development - See more at: http://www.erewise.com/current-affairs/anthropology-the-rightchoice_art536007d30d016.html#.Vgq5b-yqqko