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Make Your Note

Essay Writing for Civil Services Examination

• 13 Aug 2018
• 20 min read

Understanding Essay Writing

An essay is a short piece of writing that sheds light on any given topic. M.H. Abrams, the American literary critic, notes that the essay is “Any short composition in prose that undertakes to discuss a matter, express a point of view, or persuade us to accept a thesis on any subject.”

Broadly speaking, there are two types of essays - formal and informal. In the UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE), we are concerned with the formal essay. The formal essay is relatively impersonal, the author writes it as an authority and such essays tend to be less emotional. Formal essays can also have factual elements in it, like quoted statistics from a government report etc. It is never in the form of a conversation, never uses first-person references and seldom gets intimate with the audience. In short, a formal essay has a certain degree of seriousness attached to it.

Essay writing for CSE

• For the CSE essay paper, two essays have to be written under 3 hours in the 1000-1200 word limit. Each essay carries 125 marks for a total of 250.
• The essay paper is divided into two sections - A and B, each carrying a choice of 4 essays each, and the aspirant has to choose only one essay from each section.
• The instructions in the syllabus are clear in what is being expected from the aspirant. Aspirants are ‘expected to keep their thoughts closely to the subject and arrange their ideas accordingly.It furthur tates that, credit will be given for effective and coherent expression’.
• The underlined keywords are important because after content, these are the exact parameters on which the essay will be evaluated. 

Beginning Essay Writing

Practice makes perfect. For scoring good marks in the essay, one needs practice. But, before we get to the practising part, we should do some basic homework first. We would start by looking at what a well structured essay is, how it can be planned, what elements can be added to make the essay more scoring, and most importantly, how to do it all within the prescribed time limit.

Basic structure of an essay

The most common method of structuring a essay is breaking it up into paragraphs. In this technique, besides the introduction and the conclusion, there will be body-paragraphs. In these body-paragraphs, the aspirant will have to fit in all his content.

• Body-paragraphs can broadly be supportive, critical or narrative. Ideally, one can start any argument in an aptly phrased narrative paragraph which describe the topic in some detail and then move on to a supportive paragraph containing a few positive facts/ideas on the topic. Though critical paragraphs look best when they are placed last, there are no such rules, and for some topics it can be used as the opening paragraph for the topic.
• The most important part of the essay is perhaps the introduction. First impressions are very important, and a well thought out introduction will definitely make a positive impression on the examiner. We will discuss how to write a proper introduction later in this strategy.
• Similarly, the conclusion is where one can score additional marks if done properly. This will also be discussed later.

Keywords of the essay syllabus

• 'closely': Any deviation from the topic will be tolerated only up to a certain point. One must, therefore, as a rule stick as closely as possible to the topic at hand. Any example, quote, anecdote or reference must be on topic or related closely to it.
• 'arrange': The essay must be in an arranged form. The aspirant is supposed to plan ahead and form a structure of the essay before actually writing it down.
• 'orderly': The ideas or arguments put forward in the essay must follow an order. A haphazard essay that does not flow sequentially, must be avoided at all costs.
• 'concise': The essay and the matter discussed therein must be expressed as precisely possible. Clarity of thought and brevity of expression is what is looked for in the CSE essay.
• 'effective': The essay must be written in a language that makes a strong impression. Thus, one needs to be conveying a point with every sentence, every paragraph. Flowery language is best avoided.
• 'coherent': Coherence is required of all forms of writing, including answer writing, but in the CSE essay one must be extra careful to check that all individual sentences in the essay are making sense. Also, paragraphs as a whole must convey a clear and well thought out exposition on the theme of the essay.

Planning to write an essay

A good essay needs planning. There are three steps to it - defining or understanding what the essay is going to be about in very clear terms, brainstroming on the topic and thirdly, devising the outline of the essay.

Central idea of the thesis statement

• All CSE essays have a thesis statement. For example, in CSE 2016, the following essay was asked— ‘Innovation is the key determinant of economic growth and social welfare’ . Here the central idea is ‘innovation’. The aspirant is supposed to explore those dimensions of innovation that affect ‘economic growth and social welfare’. In doing so, the aspirant should not veer from the central topic of innovation but if possible add a few related ideas which may supplement the overall central idea that not only socio-economic but also other areas like technology and culture are affected by forces of innovation.
• In another essay asked in CSE— ‘Water disputes between States in federal India’ – the central idea is how the water disputes between various Indian states have played out and what are its various dimensions. Constitutional, legal, social and political dimensions, for ex, are a must for addressing this topic. In order to find out the various dimensions of any given topic we should perform a brainstorming exercise.

Brainstorming for essay writing

• Brainstorming for essay is a crucial step. Brainstorming helps you get all the ideas at one place for quick reference. There are no hard and fast rules, but typically one can begin with the given topic and immediately start listing the things that come to mind. One can ideally devote an entire page for this exercise.

Brainstorming guide

• The first requirement for brainstorming is focus. One should be able to focus single-mindedly on the job at hand, which in this case is jotting down as many points as possible regarding the essay topic.
• Boundaries must also be properly defined. If the topic does not absolutely require a particularly complex point or if it does not require following a difficult train of thought, it should be avoided. Keeping the essay as simple as possible without sacrificing the most valid points is what we should be looking for.
• Then we must set a time limit for the brainstorming session. Ideally, for CSE that time limit works out to about 25 minutes per essay. Within that time limit one is supposed to come up with all the necessary points and plans for writing the essay.
• Another important point to be made here is that aspirants should have a fair understanding regarding  the expectations of the CSE examiner from the essay. Every topic will have some basic ideas that the aspirants must necessarily try to explore or address. During brainstorming such a requirement can be searched for.
• In the brainstorming exercise one may also take help of diagrams, flow-charts, mind-maps etc., if needed. Sometimes doing this may clear things up to a great extent or even save precious time.
• Three things that one must exclusively do while brainstorming are — identify causes and factors, define the various issues and make a list of associated ideas. Doing this is key to success in the entire brainstorming exercise.

Adding elements to the essay

• Any good essay will definitely have a multitude of elements and dimensions to it. For CSE essay writing, there are certain basic rules that one can follow while searching for these elements and dimensions.
• The first of such rules would be to follow and uphold Constitutional values at all times . This is very crucial for essay writing in CSE, that the values enshrined in our Constitution reflect in whatever idea, problem or solution we discuss in the essay. At no point should one try and support an idea that is unconstitutional.
• One must also be democratic while addressing issues . The concepts of ‘freedom and equality’ should be the guiding principles while suggesting solutions and while criticising events or issues.
• Generally, one must also avoid taking absolutist/non-compromising positions . In fact, the best way to handle complex problems is to find the middle ground.
• One must also try not to make sweeping generalisations on any given issue. Instead, there should be hints of patience, justice and understanding in addressing or discussing any given topic.
• Lastly, there are two more things that an aspirant need to keep in mind while attempting the CSE essay. (A) Do not question the topic itself, which is to say, in other words, do not contradict yourself. Pick a position (ideally, the middle path) and stay true to it throughout the essay. (B) Never use positively, things that are universally considered or used in a negative sense, and vice-versa. For ex, one must not say that ‘terrorism’ under certain conditions is equivalent to a freedom struggle, even though quotes like ‘one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter’ are quite common.

Elements in an essay

• The three basic elements — social, political and economic — form the bedrock of a good CSE essay.
• To these, one may add other dimensions like Constitutional, legal, technological, technical etc. 
• Another important element is the persona Good personal experiences or anecdotes can no doubt be used to increase the effectiveness of the essay but these should stay within the accepted framework of ethical conduct.

PESTLE Analysis

• Political – Economic – Sociological – Technological – Legal – Environmental Analysis.
• Use PESTLE Analysis to figure out the various aspects, dimensions, factors etc of any given topic.

Outlining the essay

• Before writing the essay, it is best to outline it. To outline an essay means to figure out what to say in the introduction/conclusion, which idea comes where, or even what quote to use for the essay etc.
• Outlining the essay in rough helps us grasp the entirety of the essay before actually writing it. It helps us get the big picture, and also see what we could be missing.
• It is said that once we can figure out the conclusion to our essay, it becomes much easier to not only begin but finish it with confidence.

Writing An Essay 

Sticking to the time limit

In the CSE, one has to write two essays in 3 hours which translates into 1 hour 30 minutes for each essay. Out of this, around 45 minutes to 1 hour will be required to write one essay. One can add another 10 minutes for the revision of one essay. This leaves us with roughly 30 minutes of time to prepare the essay in rough, and it includes time for carrying out the brainstorming and outlining exercises.

How to introduce the essay

• The goal of the introduction should be to arouse the reader’s interest in the topic and to prepare the reader for what is to follow.
• A good introduction to the essay can be a brief explanation of the essay topic itself. It can be made further interesting by adding to it some personal experience, or some relevant anecdotes or quotes
• The introduction should not be confusing or lacking in clarity, rather it should be able to immediately clear up any doubts regarding the topic if there is any.

Writing in paragraphs

• In a stand-alone paragraph, the concluding sentence announces that the paragraph is finished, complete. In an essay, the concluding sentence of a paragraph is more likely to play the role of a transitional device, joining one paragraph to the next.
• Flow is very important in an essay. It is also connected to writing order. Writing orders are of two types
• Known-to-New is the order of writing where the author by choice goes from known (given) concepts to unknown ones. New material is gradually added to build on the unknown.
• Simple-to-Complex is the order of writing where the author first establishes a base of concepts that are easily understood and then develops over it increasingly complex ideas.
• One can use the FREQOES method to add matter to the various paragraphs.

How to conclude the essay

• The essay can be concluded in the following ways - restating the main points in brief and with different wordings (summarizing), suggesting a way forward or a course of action, or adding an interesting personal comment or any relevant anecdote.
• Another way to conclude the essay is by returning to the discussion begun in the introduction. This is called the ‘cyclic return’ and a lot of essays follow this simple method of concluding an essay.
• The conclusion should bear a positive outlook, it should see the silver lining in the clouds. It should also be as clear and concise as possible.

Revising the essay

• To revise, read the essay in its entirety, underlining (preferably with scale and pencil) important words or phrases. Correct spelling or grammatical mistakes if any. Make sure the pages look clean and tidy.
• One may add or omit a few words but it should not be overdone. It is also not advisable that entirely new ideas/sentences are inserted in the essay at the time of revision, unless such information is critical to the essay.

Some tips on essay writing

• One can go through the CSE previous year’s essays and understand the concepts, dimensions and solutions required to solve those. Having a simple understanding of complex social problems is the secret to writing a good essay for the CSE.
• One can also keep handy a small collection of quotes or quotable phrases and citable anecdotes to be used while writing the essay. This keeps one prepared for writing any type of essay.

Essay Topics and Previous papers for UPSC Civil service exam

List of essay topics.

• Cookie Cutter Templates Ep1: Arrogance, History Repeats for Essay / Ethics UPSC Mains 15+ Examples
• [Essay] No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man. — HERACLITUS
• [Mock] Essay Paper for UPSC Mains-2016: Identity Groups vs Democracy, Chakra vs Charkha, Wisdom vs Force, UBI vs Skill Development
• [Mock] Essay Paper for UPSC Mains-2016: Role of Educator, Taste for Literature, Cost of Liberty, Success in Dictionary
• [Essays] February Week2: Equidistant diplomacy, Strategic Autonomy without Military Alliance, Censorship & Moral responsibility
• [Essays] February Week1: Censorship of Ideas, Acts of Kindness, Childhood to Adulthood, consciously secular society
• [Essays] January Week4: Socialist Preamble, Democracy without participation, women-the deities of household fire
• [Essays] January Week3: Ideological Colonization, Dovish vs Hawkish Foreign Policy, limits of free speech
• [Essays] January Week2: competitive vs. cooperative federalism, God above all gods, Suicide- a social shame
• [Essays] January 2015 Week1: Religion-A form of Enslavement, Market Oriented Education, Constructive Criticism
• [Essays] December Week4: Apoplectic Secularism, Syncretism, Spiritual Alzheimer, Pragmatic Diplomacy
• [Essays] December Week1: Social suffocation, true Sovereignty, Arc of revanchist states
• [Essays] November Week4: Classical Arts, Security Trilemma, Think in India, Soullessness of men
• [Essays] November Week3: Garrison Governance, Dignity of Labour, Rationalist Thinking, Age of Knowledge
• [Essays] November Week2: Nehru legacy, knowledge society, age of discontinuity (only Topiclists)
• [Essays] November Week1: New Urbanism, Regional Chauvinism, Majoritarian Populism
• [Essays] October Week4: End of American Century, Activism vs Restrain, Censorship vs Lynching
• [Essays] October Week3: Militant Atheism, Rational Consumption, Ecocide, Prosperity without Morality
• [Essays] October Week2: Corruption, Child Labour, Probity, Good Governance, Injustice, Optimism
• [Essays] October Week1: Colonization, Gandhiism, Volunteerism, Personification, Social Transformation
• [Essays] September Week4: De-bureaucratizing the executive, Hidden Euthanasia, Gender equality
• [Essays] September Week3: India-China, Zero Sum Game, Parliamentary minority, Daughter aversion
• [Essays] September Week2: 21 Topics for UPSC Mains: Fanaticism, Colonizing Culture, Age of Loneliness, piecemeal WW-III
• [Essays] September Week1: 16 Topics for UPSC Mains- Expansionism, Buried Justice, India-the Model international citizen
• [Download] Essay 2013 Question Paper of UPSC Civil Service Mains
• [Essay Tip for Newcomers] What to write & What not to write in Mains IAS exam?

• IAS Preparation
• UPSC Preparation Strategy
• How To Write The Essay Paper For UPSC Mains

How to Write the Essay Paper in UPSC Mains?

The essay paper is an important aspect of the UPSC civil services exams. It can make or break your outcome. There are two sections in this paper. Each section gives you four topics; you have to choose one topic each. Each essay you write is marked out of 125, making a total of 250 marks.

Click here to download the  UPSC Mains Essay Paper 2020 .

To download UPSC Prelims 2021 Question Papers PDF, visit the linked article.

Your general studies preparation is enough to cover possible topics, and you don’t have to study separate content for the civil services essay paper. You do have to remember certain aspects of writing a good essay if you want to have the edge over your fellow UPSC aspirants. A lot of IAS aspirants make the mistake of not focusing on the essay paper because of its general nature. However, there are many advantages of concentrating on this paper, such as:

• You have the option of selecting one topic out of four. You should be able to leverage this to your advantage and shine in this paper.
• The essay paper is an area where you can let loose your creativity while displaying your knowledge about the topics.
• Also, you have three hours to write about 1000 to 1200 words per topic (word limit for essay in UPSC exam). Hence, you can do justice to the essay topic as you have ample time to structure your thoughts and then start writing.

Let us look at how your essay should be structured!

Your essay should ideally have an introduction, content, basic theme and conclusion. The introduction and conclusion are self-explanatory. Content should give a historical perspective to your topic. It should also include facts and events related to your topic. Try to cover relevant aspects of the topic. The basic theme should talk about your views on the topic. Take a stand but a balanced one. You should also describe the negative and positive aspects of the topic chosen.

How to select the UPSC essay topic?

• Go through all the given topics well.
• Choose a topic you know most and have significant knowledge about.
• Try to avoid provocative issues where personal opinions can be controversial.
• Select the topic only if you are sure of the meaning. For example, know what IT refers to in a given case – information technology or income tax.
• Don’t necessarily pick a topic because it excites you. You should have content and a balanced approach while writing about it.

Features of a good essay

• It should resonate with the topic given. Don’t stray from the topic merely to fill up the word count.
• It should engross the reader. A good essay should ignite the reader’s curiosity about the topic. It should not be boring. The reader should feel like going on reading it.
• It should be multi-dimensional. Don’t have a single viewpoint. Analyse the topic from different perspectives. You can provide new insights into the topic and impress the examiner.
• It should be simple but effective and coherent. You need not write the Queen’s English but let the language drive home whatever point you are trying to make.
• It should be grammatically perfect. Not only does it enhances your essay’s clarity it also avoids a negative impression.
• It should be neat. This is why it is important to think about what you want to write before starting. This avoids scratching.
• There should be continuity in your essay. Don’t jump from one point to another. Make your shifts seamless and smooth. Let there be a natural flow of points. This indicates clarity of thoughts.
• It should contain quotes, headings, sub-headings and diagrams if required.
• It should be structured appropriately.

Things to avoid in a UPSC essay question paper

• Avoid writing in the first person.
• Avoid being too aggressive in your writing. You want to portray an image of a composed person with balanced views. Aggressiveness can also show inflexibility.
• Avoid being pessimistic in your writing. UPSC wants officers with a cheerful and positive disposition!
• Avoid writing in points. Remember you are writing an essay.
• You don’t have to agree with the stand taken by the question. Sometimes, a question can be a statement giving a particular view. You can write both negative and positive aspects of it.
• Don’t stray away from the topic.
• Don’t get too personal and name politicians or political parties unnecessarily. You are going to be a bureaucrat, not a politician or journalist!
• Avoid giving quotes that you are not sure of. Don’t attribute quotes to the wrong people. And, definitely do not create your own quotes . You can’t fool the examiner. Doing so will certainly get you penalised.

You can write good essays if you develop the habit of reading good UPSC essays on a regular basis. Incorporate reading essays as a part of your UPSC civil services preparation. Also, do note that referring to UPSC previous year’s essay papers will help immensely. Remember, practice makes perfect!

For more on UPSC essay writing, read Useful technique to practice on essay topics for UPSC Civil Services Mains Exam .

UPSC Preparation:

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How To Write A Good Essay In Civil Service Mains Exam?

Last updated on July 15, 2024 by Alex Andrews George

It has been observed that many candidates, unfortunately, take the essay paper too lightly resulting in a score not comparable with their potential.

It is vital to attempt essay paper with the same seriousness as all other papers in GS Mains and learn the art of writing a good essay.

Table of Contents

Practice is the key!

Subscribe to the ClearIAS YouTube Channel for more informative videos on UPSC preparation, tips, and strategies. Stay updated with our latest content and enhance your exam readiness.

Practice, not talent, is the key to success.

Make reading good essays a habit. And more importantly, start writing essays from today.

UPSC CSE 2025: Study Plan ⇓

(1) ⇒ UPSC 2025: Prelims cum Mains

(2) ⇒ UPSC 2025: Prelims Test Series

(3) ⇒ UPSC 2025: CSAT

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Also read: ClearIAS launches Essay Writing Course for UPSC

Understanding Essay Paper in IAS Exam

250 marks out of 2025 (12.3 %) are the weight-age of essay paper on total Civil Services Mains Marks as per the latest UPSC syllabus. Since 2015, candidates have been asked to write two essays out of 8 choices. Each essay is for 125 marks (1000-1200 words). Check the UPSC CSE Essay Syllabus here .

Time allotted is 3 hours.

Note: Before 2013, UPSC CSE essay paper was only for 200 marks with a single essay to write upon!

UPSC’s expectation from Essay Paper

Examiners will pay special attention to the candidate’s grasp of his/her material, its relevance to the subject chosen and to his/her ability to think constructively and to present his/her ideas concisely, logically and effectively.

• Make a framework (blueprint) of the essay you are going to write first.
• Our advice would be to use simple language. As Anton Chekov once said ‘Brevity is the sister of talent’.
• The idea of using ornamental language to showcase your English vocabulary may backfire at times. But, don’t make your essay sound like a General Studies answer.
• If the introduction can generate curiosity in the reader, that would be great.
• There should be a logical continuation from beginning to end.
• The essay should be organized in well-structured paragraphs coherent with the flow of the essay.
• Don’t be too aggressive or pessimistic in your tone.
• Come up with good points and express new viewpoints.
• Go through well-written essays by experts in newspapers and magazines, and understand how they frame the ‘Introduction’ and ‘Conclusion’ paragraphs.
• In most cases, there will not be any need for separate coaching or preparation for essays, and candidates’ reading and preparation for General Studies Mains should suffice. But make sure your writing and analytical skills are up to the UPSC expectations; if not, polish it.
• Write mock essays and get it evaluated by experts in the field.

Let’s analyze a few previous year UPSC essay papers.

Essay Questions Asked in the UPSC (Mains) Examination

Write an essay on any one of the following topics:

• In the context of Gandhiji’s views on the matter, explore, on an evolutionary scale, the terms ‘Swadhinata’, ‘Swaraj’, and ‘Dharmarajya’. Critically comment on their contemporary relevance to Indian democracy.
• Is the criticism that the ‘Public-Private-Partnership’ (PPP) model for development is more of a bane than a boon in the Indian context, justified?
• Science and Mysticism: Are they compatible?
• Managing work and home – Are the Indian working women getting a fair deal?
• Creation of smaller states and the consequent administrative, economic, and developmental implications.
• Does Indian cinema shape our popular culture or merely reflect it?
• Credit-based higher education system –status, opportunities, and challenges.
• In the Indian context, both human intelligence and technical intelligence are crucial and combating terrorism.

How much is a good score on the UPSC CSE essay paper?

As the essay paper is out of 250, marks which are above 50% can be considered good, ie. 125.

Marks between 110-125 is considered as average.

Marks in the range of 150-160 are possible for exceptional essays.

Note: UPSC may award poorly written essay marks as low as ‘0’ or ’20’. So beware and pay sufficient attention to proper practice.

Also read: 10 Common Essay Writing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Important Essay Topics for UPSC CSE

Topics like Women empowerment, Rural Development, Social Justice, Terrorism, Internal Security, etc. are hot topics for essays, and be prepared with various dimensions of the same in the UPSC Exam.

Books that help in Essay Writing for the UPSC Civil Services Exam

• Essays for Civil Services and Other Competitive Examinations by Pulkit Khare .
• Selected Contemporary Essays by Saumitra Mohan (MHE)
• Essay Paper for Civil Services Main Examination by Pavneet Singh and Sonali Bansal

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Reader Interactions

January 17, 2016 at 2:06 am

I am b.tech student and confuse in choosing optional subject between political science or history or any other suggestion

March 22, 2016 at 5:14 am

Chose anyone..if confused between any 2..start studying a basic book of both the subjects..1 hr each day each subject..and after 1 week..You will be ready with your final subject! Surprisingly!

June 30, 2016 at 8:34 am

You should go with public administration.

September 12, 2017 at 2:14 pm

May be mathematics is suitable

July 5, 2016 at 7:05 pm

Please tell which book should be best for electrical subject

July 24, 2016 at 11:01 pm

Really this app is soo usefull the clear ias app is one kind of the teacher really great full to you

August 17, 2016 at 7:43 pm

I am in 10 class.so please tell me in which academy I have to join in my inter standard………

December 2, 2016 at 12:24 pm

Hello sir, i am a b.sc student. Please tell me how to prepare my self for upsc civil service exam and tell me a best academy for coaching..

April 22, 2017 at 12:01 pm

hello sir I am BE student how ro prepare upsc without coaching

June 12, 2017 at 8:27 pm

Can I write the mains in my own language…?

September 12, 2017 at 2:21 pm

Why not.?.. definitely…

July 17, 2017 at 12:40 pm

very helpfull Post

September 9, 2017 at 9:21 am

Tamil is my mother tongue I don’t know english , I studied in Tamil medium can I write all exams of IAS in Tamil, please clear this doubt.

November 29, 2017 at 11:57 am

Looking at the language of your query, it looks like you are well versed in English. You are trying to sensitize “The Issue”.

November 15, 2017 at 12:28 pm

Hello sir I’m very confusing how to prepare for paper 1 please give some Important tips and some books sir

July 23, 2019 at 2:59 pm

Sir l am a plus one student l want to crack civil service and to improve my English what should I do???????

January 8, 2020 at 12:41 pm

Dear sir, I will complete 29 year on 15-01-2020, And if i will enroll BBA program now it will be completed in fy 22-23, that time my age will be 32, i belong to OBC category, is i am eligible for upse exam?

Please suggest me

June 15, 2020 at 9:19 pm

You are eligible till your age is 35 . Still you will so much time for the preparation which is more than enough for you , so go for it and remember eventually your dedication towards your studies will decide your future , even I m also thinking about upsc . I hope we will end up with something gud

June 28, 2021 at 8:58 am

i think you can but i would suggest you to see youtube once as i saw for general it was 21-32 years and obc i think its till 34-35 not clear with the last year

March 3, 2020 at 3:31 pm

Really this is very much helpful app. Thanks a lot to clear ias.

July 5, 2020 at 2:00 pm

Sir, which subject takes BSC students as optional subject for civils service

March 22, 2021 at 11:41 am

i am revanasidda g vangi ,i am studieng in bachelor of arts in kcp college in vijayapur state karnataka , i want to civil servise examination details. how to do face exam ?please tell me sir \madam please contact me 9380093040 thank you….. .

October 17, 2021 at 8:58 pm

I am pharmacy student and confuse in choosing optional subject between political science or history or any other suggestion Their Latest Reference Books

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Intro Essay: The Civil Rights Movement

To what extent did founding principles of liberty, equality, and justice become a reality for african americans during the civil rights movement.

• I can explain the importance of local and federal actions in the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s.
• I can compare the goals and methods of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLS), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Malcolm X and Black Nationalism, and Black Power.
• I can explain challenges African Americans continued to face despite victories for equality and justice during the civil rights movement.

Essential Vocabulary

Continuing the Heroic Struggle for Equality: The Civil Rights Movement

The struggle to make the promises of the Declaration of Independence a reality for Black Americans reached a climax after World War II. The activists of the civil rights movement directly confronted segregation and demanded equal civil rights at the local level with physical and moral courage and perseverance. They simultaneously pursued a national strategy of systematically filing lawsuits in federal courts, lobbying Congress, and pressuring presidents to change the laws. The civil rights movement encountered significant resistance, however, and suffered violence in the quest for equality.

During the middle of the twentieth century, several Black writers grappled with the central contradictions between the nation’s ideals and its realities, and the place of Black Americans in their country. Richard Wright explored a raw confrontation with racism in Native Son (1940), while Ralph Ellison led readers through a search for identity beyond a racialized category in his novel Invisible Man (1952), as part of the Black quest for identity. The novel also offered hope in the power of the sacred principles of the Founding documents. Playwright Lorraine Hansberry wrote A Raisin in the Sun , first performed in 1959, about the dreams deferred for Black Americans and questions about assimilation. Novelist and essayist James Baldwin described Blacks’ estrangement from U.S. society and themselves while caught in a racial nightmare of injustice in The Fire Next Time (1963) and other works.

World War II wrought great changes in U.S. society. Black soldiers fought for a “double V for victory,” hoping to triumph over fascism abroad and racism at home. Many received a hostile reception, such as Medgar Evers who was blocked from voting at gunpoint by five armed whites. Blacks continued the Great Migration to southern and northern cities for wartime industrial work. After the war, in 1947, Jackie Robinson endured racial taunts on the field and segregation off it as he broke the color barrier in professional baseball and began a Hall of Fame career. The following year, President Harry Truman issued executive orders desegregating the military and banning discrimination in the civil service. Meanwhile, Thurgood Marshall and his legal team at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) meticulously prepared legal challenges to discrimination, continuing a decades-long effort.

The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund brought lawsuits against segregated schools in different states that were consolidated into Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka , 1954. The Supreme Court unanimously decided that “separate but equal” was “inherently unequal.” Brown II followed a year after, as the court ordered that the integration of schools should be pursued “with all deliberate speed.” Throughout the South, angry whites responded with a campaign of “massive resistance” and refused to comply with the order, while many parents sent their children to all-white private schools. Middle-class whites who opposed integration joined local chapters of citizens’ councils and used propaganda, economic pressure, and even violence to achieve their ends.

A wave of violence and intimidation followed. In 1955, teenager Emmett Till was visiting relatives in Mississippi when he was lynched after being falsely accused of whistling at a white woman. Though an all-white jury quickly acquitted the two men accused of killing him, Till’s murder was reported nationally and raised awareness of the injustices taking place in Mississippi.

In Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks (who was a secretary of the Montgomery NAACP) was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus. Her willingness to confront segregation led to a direct-action movement for equality. The local Women’s Political Council organized the city’s Black residents into a boycott of the bus system, which was then led by the Montgomery Improvement Association. Black churches and ministers, including Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Rev. Ralph Abernathy, provided a source of strength. Despite arrests, armed mobs, and church bombings, the boycott lasted until a federal court desegregated the city buses. In the wake of the boycott, the leading ministers formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) , which became a key civil rights organization.

Rosa Parks is shown here in 1955 with Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the background. The Montgomery bus boycott was an important victory in the civil rights movement.

In 1957, nine Black families decided to send their children to Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Governor Orval Faubus used the National Guard to prevent their entry, and one student, Elizabeth Eckford, faced an angry crowd of whites alone and barely escaped. President Eisenhower was compelled to respond and sent in 1,200 paratroops from the 101st Airborne to protect the Black students. They continued to be harassed, but most finished the school year and integrated the school.

That year, Congress passed a Civil Rights Act that created a civil rights division in the Justice Department and provided minimal protections for the right to vote. The bill had been watered down because of an expected filibuster by southern senators, who had recently signed the Southern Manifesto, a document pledging their resistance to Supreme Court decisions such as Brown .

In 1960, four Black college students were refused lunch service at a local Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina, and they spontaneously staged a “sit-in” the following day. Their resistance to the indignities of segregation was copied by thousands of others of young Blacks across the South, launching another wave of direct, nonviolent confrontation with segregation. Ella Baker invited several participants to a Raleigh conference where they formed the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and issued a Statement of Purpose. The group represented a more youthful and daring effort that later broke with King and his strategy of nonviolence.

In contrast, Malcolm X became a leading spokesperson for the Nation of Islam (NOI) who represented Black separatism as an alternative to integration, which he deemed an unworthy goal. He advocated revolutionary violence as a means of Black self-defense and rejected nonviolence. He later changed his views, breaking with the NOI and embracing a Black nationalism that had more common ground with King’s nonviolent views. Malcolm X had reached out to establish ties with other Black activists before being gunned down by assassins who were members of the NOI later in 1965.

In 1961, members of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) rode segregated buses in order to integrate interstate travel. These Black and white Freedom Riders traveled into the Deep South, where mobs beat them with bats and pipes in bus stations and firebombed their buses. A cautious Kennedy administration reluctantly intervened to protect the Freedom Riders with federal marshals, who were also victimized by violent white mobs.

Malcolm X was a charismatic speaker and gifted organizer. He argued that Black pride, identity, and independence were more important than integration with whites.

King was moved to act. He confronted segregation with the hope of exposing injustice and brutality against nonviolent protestors and arousing the conscience of the nation to achieve a just rule of law. The first planned civil rights campaign was initiated by SNCC and taken over mid-campaign by King and SCLC. It failed because Albany, Georgia’s Police Chief Laurie Pritchett studied King’s tactics and responded to the demonstrations with restraint. In 1963, King shifted the movement to Birmingham, Alabama, where Public Safety Commissioner Bull Connor unleashed his officers to attack civil rights protestors with fire hoses and police dogs. Authorities arrested thousands, including many young people who joined the marches. King wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” after his own arrest and provided the moral justification for the movement to break unjust laws. National and international audiences were shocked by the violent images shown in newspapers and on the television news. President Kennedy addressed the nation and asked, “whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities . . . [If a Black person]cannot enjoy the full and free life which all of us want, then who among us would be content to have the color of his skin changed and stand in his place?” The president then submitted a civil rights bill to Congress.

In late August 1963, more than 250,000 people joined the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in solidarity for equal rights. From the Lincoln Memorial steps, King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. He stated, “I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’”

After Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, President Lyndon Johnson pushed his agenda through Congress. In the early summer of 1964, a 3-month filibuster by southern senators was finally defeated, and both houses passed the historical civil rights bill. President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, banning segregation in public accommodations.

Activists in the civil rights movement then focused on campaigns for the right to vote. During the summer of 1964, several civil rights organizations combined their efforts during the “ Freedom Summer ” to register Blacks to vote with the help of young white college students. They endured terror and intimidation as dozens of churches and homes were burned and workers were killed, including an incident in which Black advocate James Chaney and two white students, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, were murdered in Mississippi.

In August 1963, peaceful protesters gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial to draw attention to the inequalities and indignities African Americans suffered 100 years after emancipation. Leaders of the march are shown in the image on the bottom, with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the center.

That summer, Fannie Lou Hamer helped organize the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) as civil rights delegates to replace the rival white delegation opposed to civil rights at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City. Hamer was a veteran of attempts to register other Blacks to vote and endured severe beatings for her efforts. A proposed compromise of giving two seats to the MFDP satisfied neither those delegates nor the white delegation, which walked out. Cracks were opening up in the Democratic electoral coalition over civil rights, especially in the South.

Fannie Lou Hamer testified about the violence she and others endured when trying to register to vote at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. Her televised testimony exposed the realities of continued violence against Blacks trying to exercise their constitutional rights.

In early 1965, the SCLC and SNCC joined forces to register voters in Selma and draw attention to the fight for Black suffrage. On March 7, marchers planned to walk peacefully from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery. However, mounted state troopers and police blocked the Edmund Pettus Bridge and then rampaged through the marchers, indiscriminately beating them. SNCC leader John Lewis suffered a fractured skull, and 5 women were clubbed unconscious. Seventy people were hospitalized for injuries during “Bloody Sunday.” The scenes again shocked television viewers and newspaper readers.

The images of state troopers, local police, and local people brutally attacking peaceful protestors on “Bloody Sunday” shocked people across the country and world. Two weeks later, protestors of all ages and races continued the protest. By the time they reached the state capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, their ranks had swelled to about 25,000 people.

Two days later, King led a symbolic march to the bridge but then turned around. Many younger and more militant activists were alienated and felt that King had sold out to white authorities. The tension revealed the widening division between older civil rights advocates and those younger, more radical supporters who were frustrated at the slow pace of change and the routine violence inflicted upon peaceful protesters. Nevertheless, starting on March 21, with the help of a federal judge who refused Governor George Wallace’s request to ban the march, Blacks triumphantly walked to Montgomery. On August 6, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act protecting the rights to register and vote after a Senate filibuster ended and the bill passed Congress.

The Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act did not alter the fact that most Black Americans still suffered racism, were denied equal economic opportunities, and lived in segregated neighborhoods. While King and other leaders did seek to raise their issues among northerners, frustrations often boiled over into urban riots during the mid-1960s. Police brutality and other racial incidents often triggered days of violence in which hundreds were injured or killed. There were mass arrests and widespread property damage from arson and looting in Los Angeles, Detroit, Newark, Cleveland, Chicago, and dozens of other cities. A presidential National Advisory Commission of Civil Disorders issued the Kerner Report, which analyzed the causes of urban unrest, noting the impact of racism on the inequalities and injustices suffered by Black Americans.

Frustration among young Black Americans led to the rise of a more militant strain of advocacy. In 1966, activist James Meredith was on a solo march in Mississippi to raise awareness about Black voter registration when he was shot and wounded. Though Meredith recovered, this event typified the violence that led some young Black Americans to espouse a more military strain of advocacy. On June 16, SNCC leader Stokely Carmichael and members of the Black Panther Party continued Meredith’s march while he recovered from his wounds, chanting, “We want Black Power .” Black Power leaders and members of the Black Panther Party offered a different vision for equality and justice. They advocated self-reliance and self-empowerment, a celebration of Black culture, and armed self-defense. They used aggressive rhetoric to project a more radical strategy for racial progress, including sympathy for revolutionary socialism and rejection of capitalism. While its legacy is debated, the Black Power movement raised many important questions about the place of Black Americans in the United States, beyond the civil rights movement.

After World War II, Black Americans confronted the iniquities and indignities of segregation to end almost a century of Jim Crow. Undeterred, they turned the public’s eyes to the injustice they faced and called on the country to live up to the promises of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, and to continue the fight against inequality and discrimination.

Reading Comprehension Questions

• What factors helped to create the modern civil rights movement?
• How was the quest for civil rights a combination of federal and local actions?
• What were the goals and methods of different activists and groups of the civil rights movement? Complete the table below to reference throughout your analysis of the primary source documents.

The Inheritance of Loss

By kiran desai, the inheritance of loss essay questions.

How do Judge Patel's experiences at Cambridge influence his relationship with Nimi?

When Judge Patel first arrives in England, he is shocked by the nation's lack of grandeur and its "unaesthetic" poverty. Judge Patel mistakenly believed that by adopting British customs and celebrating British culture, he would be accepted into "civilized" society. Despite his advanced education, practiced manners, and commitment to assimilation, Jemu is rejected and scrutinized by strangers who refuse him accommodation and joke that he "stinks of curry." Ashamed of his accent and body, Jemu retreats into himself, studying tirelessly and washing obsessively until he feels "barely human at all." During his final examinations, Jemu's professors humiliate him. He is only accepted into the civil service to "Indianize" the program. Thus, Jemu starts to blame his Indian heritage for his failures and still desperately attempts to become British.

When Judge Patel returns to India, he feels like a foreigner; surrounded by Indian people and culture, he is constantly reminded of his shame and failure. Nimi epitomizes India for Jemu; though he "found beauty" in her face, he dismissed it, convincing himself English women were superior to Indian women. As Nimi refuses to change herself to accommodate Jemu, his abuse worsens.

How does Sai cope with isolation?

Sai grows up in a convent school in India while her parents work in Moscow. Under the nuns' tutelage, Sai is harshly disciplined and forced to conform to Western ideals; in this stressful environment, Sai makes few friends.

When Sai moves to Cho Oyu, she forms connections with others, though the mansion is remote. Sai encourages the cook's stories and spends most of her time with him; she regards the cook as a surrogate father. Sai also enjoys reading National Geographic magazines as well as travelogues, poring over photographs of distant places, which evoke deep and powerful emotions.

Sai also meets her need for human connection by pursuing an emotionally intense relationship with Gyan. Even when Gyan betrays and abandons Sai, her melancholy feelings comfort her.

How are Noni and Lola beneficiaries of colonial oppression? How are they victims of colonialism?

Noni and Lola are wealthy sisters who reside in a secluded mansion decorated with eclectic, multicultural objects. They enjoy a relatively easy life, as their wealth and social position allow them to employ servants and bodyguards and enjoy international entertainment, like books in multiple languages and radio access to the BBC. Lola and Noni's lifestyle is only possible because their parents' loyalty to the British crown afforded them a privileged position in India.

However, Lola and Noni's privileged lifestyle required them to follow strict social rules that prevent them from forming meaningful relationships. Lola and Noni's friendships are marred by jealousies and pettiness, and neither sister experienced genuine love. Noni's experiences in a colonial school destroyed her confidence, and she abandoned her dream of becoming an archaeologist.

How do Gyan and Judge Patel's journeys parallel one another?

Gyan and Judge Patel both come from families of modest means. Since both boys showed academic promise at a young age, their families invested time and resources into their education; they bore the pressure of elevating their family's status. Gyan and Judge Patel are both disillusioned when they reach age twenty; Judge Patel is traumatized at Cambridge University, and Gyan is passed over for jobs despite his college degree. Unwilling to process their disappointments and frustrations, Judge Patel and Gyan emotionally abuse and humiliate their romantic partners, who embody the forces they believe oppress them. For Judge Patel, Nimi embodies the "uncivilized" aspects of Indian culture, and for Gyan, Sai embodies the social privilege obtained by rejecting Indian culture.

How do Biju's experiences in America change his understanding of India?

Biju befriends people of various nationalities, cultures, and religions, like Saeed Saeed, a Zanzibarian Muslim. Other Indians, like Harish-Harry and the female students protesting gentrification, humiliate and condescend to Biju. Biju's friendships force him to reconsider racial prejudices readily accepted in his community and family. Through Biju's negative interactions with other Indian immigrants, he acknowledges that the Indian experience and the immigrant experience are diverse and nuanced. Biju struggles and suffers in New York City and begins to idealize his hometown, appreciating what he once took for granted. When Biju returns home, he does so with the understanding that, just like America is not the dreamland many Indians believe it to be, India is not the "backward" nation Americans believe it to be.

The Inheritance of Loss Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Inheritance of Loss is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

GradeSaver has a complete list of characters, as well as their descriptions readily available in its study guide for the unit.

Summary of chapter 24

The food at the Ghandi cafe is the same generic Indian food that is served all throughout the states. Harish-Harry knows his market saying Indians make good immigrants because they understood demand-supply. Malini, Harish's wife is also a tough...

The climax of this novel want to know

The novel's climax occurs in Chapter 43, when the public burning of the Indo-Nepal Treaty devolves into violence between police and local residents.

Study Guide for The Inheritance of Loss

The Inheritance of Loss study guide contains a biography of Kiran Desai, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Inheritance of Loss
• The Inheritance of Loss Summary
• Character List

Essays for The Inheritance of Loss

The Inheritance of Loss essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai.

• The Inheritance of Loss: A Struggle with Cultural Identity
• Cultural Transcendence in The Inheritance of Loss and Clear Light of Day

Lesson Plan for The Inheritance of Loss

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to The Inheritance of Loss
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• The Inheritance of Loss Bibliography

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Great Purge

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

• Academia - The Great Purge
• Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine - Purges
• History Learning Site - The Purges in the USSR
• GlobalSecurity.org - 1937-1939 - The Great Terror
• Seventeen Moments in Soviet History - The Great Terror
• Spartacus Educational - The Great Purge

Great Purge , three widely publicized show trials and a series of closed, unpublicized trials held in the Soviet Union during the late 1930s, in which many prominent Old Bolsheviks were found guilty of treason and executed or imprisoned. All the evidence presented in court was derived from preliminary examinations of the defendants and from their confessions. It was subsequently established that the accused were innocent, that the cases were fabricated by the secret police ( NKVD ), and that the confessions were made under pressure of intensive torture and intimidation.

(Read Leon Trotsky’s 1926 Britannica essay on Lenin.)

The trials successfully eliminated the major real and potential political rivals and critics of Joseph Stalin . The trials were the public aspect of the widespread purge that sent millions of alleged “enemies of the people” to prison camps in the 1930s.

The first trial opened in August 1936, while Genrikh G. Yagoda was head of the secret police. The main defendants were Grigory Yevseyevich Zinovyev , Lev Kamenev , and Ivan Smirnov, all of whom had been prominent Bolsheviks at the time of the October Revolution (1917) and during the early years of the Soviet regime. With 13 codefendants they were accused of having joined Leon Trotsky in 1932 to form a terrorist organization in order to remove Stalin from power. The prosecution blamed the group for the assassination of Sergei Kirov (December 1934) and suggested that it planned to murder Stalin and his close political associates. On August 24, 1936, the court found the defendants guilty and ordered their executions.

The second trial opened in January 1937, after N.I. Yezhov had replaced Yagoda as chief of the NKVD. The major defendants were G.L. Pyatakov , G.Y. Sokolnikov, L.P. Serebryakov, and Karl Radek , all prominent figures in the Soviet regime. They and their 17 codefendants were accused of forming an “anti-Soviet Trotskyite centre,” which had allegedly collaborated with Trotsky to conduct sabotage , wrecking, and terrorist activities that would ruin the Soviet economy and reduce the defensive capability of the Soviet Union. They were accused of working for Germany and Japan and of intending to overthrow the Soviet government and restore capitalism . They were found guilty on January 30, 1937; Sokolnikov, Radek, and two others were given 10-year sentences, and the rest were executed.

At the third trial (March 1938), the prosecution suggested that the Zinovyev–Trotsky conspiracy also included Nikolay Bukharin and Aleksey Ivanovich Rykov , the leaders of the right-wing opposition to Stalin that had been prominent in the late 1920s. Yagoda was also accused of being a member of the conspiracy, as were three prominent doctors who had attended leading government officials. A total of 21 defendants were accused of performing numerous acts of sabotage and espionage with the intent to destroy the Soviet regime, dismember the Soviet Union, and restore the capitalist system. They were also charged with responsibility for Kirov’s death, and it was alleged that Yagoda had ordered the three doctors to murder the former secret police chief V.R. Menzhinsky, the author Maxim Gorky , and a member of the Politburo , V.V. Kuibyshev. Bukharin was accused of having plotted to murder Lenin in 1918. Although one defendant, N.N. Krestinsky, retracted his guilty plea, and Bukharin and Yagoda skillfully responded to the prosecutor Andrey Yanuaryevich Vyshinsky’s questions to demonstrate their innocence, all the defendants except three were sentenced to death on March 13, 1938.

In addition to the so-called show trials, a series of closed trials of top Soviet military leaders was held in 1937–38, in which a number of prominent military leaders were eliminated; the closed trials were accompanied by a massive purge throughout the Soviet armed forces. Stalin’s liquidation of experienced military leadership during this purge was one of the major factors contributing to the poor performance of Soviet forces in the initial phase of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941.

Showcase your ideas on public policy and current affairs by entering our essay writing competition. Every month, students can choose any one topic and send their essays. Make sure you first prepare well and then write down the essay as it will give you great practice for the actual UPSC essay exam.

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We hope more and more students will participate in the Essay contest, which includes topics of current affairs. One should remember that these topics will be useful not only for the IAS exams but also for other competitive exams.

Practice Essay Topics for UPSC

May - June 2024 Essay Contest (Last date is June 30, 2024)

Candidates should send their essay to [email protected]. Please mention your mobile number in your mail .

View: Upsc essay topics

Essay Contest Topics: January - 2021

• In the tussle between a local vaccine and an international vaccine, how does a government decide?
• Is it important to be a good human being and accommodating or should we be aggressive and achieve success?
• How can individuals contribute to the growth of a nation’s economy?
• Should India close down its dams and focus on nuclear and solar energy?

Selected Essay Topics: March 2024

1. Changing trends in the female workforce, how it can be harnessed for better growth. -JNANDEEP BORA (Winner)

Selected Essay Topics: December 2023

1. Is the caste barrier breaking due to increased love marriages in India? -SHUVAJYOTI DUTTA

Selected Essay Topics: November 2023

1. Is the caste barrier breaking due to increased love marriages in India? -JNANDEEP BORA (Winner)

Selected Essay Topics: August - September 2023

1. Religion Vs Nation - Write an essay on the harmony and the conflict? -Jatin Sethi

2. Poverty and the Indian story of the numbers below the poverty line. What are the solutions? -MUDRA PADMASHALI (Winner)

Selected Essay Topics: April 2023

1. Role of Social Media in Indian Politics -Shri Rishija

2. Role of Social Media in Indian Politics -Vinita Murmu (Winner)

3. Role of social media in Indian politics. -JNANDEEP BORA.

4. ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN INDIAN POLITICS -MUDRA PADMASHALI

5. Where are the oil economies headed with the rise of electric vehicles? Discuss the impact on India. -RICHA RAJ (Winner)

6. Future of printed currency. Discuss. -DR. RUPALI KUMARI

7. Role of social media in Indian politics -SANJEEV KUMAR

Selected Essay Topics: March 2023

1. How important is God in a civil society? -Jatin Sethi (Winner)

Selected Essay Topics: January 2023

1. BRAIN DRAIN A DECADE AGO AND NOW -Dr Rashmi bhat (Winner)

2. BRAIN DRAIN A DECADE AGO AND NOW -Gudibandi vaishnavi

3. Should a civil servant be honest? How corruption in offices can be monitored? -JNANDEEP BORA.

4. Should a civil servant be honest? How corruption in offices can be monitored? -Jatin Sethi (Winner)

5. India has some of the richest business houses, how does it affect our GDP? -Swagata Sengupta

6. Should a civil servant be honest? How corruption in offices can be monitored? -Mudra Padmashali

Selected Essay Topics: November - December 2022

1. Is being a Hindu more important than being an Indian? should we have to choose? -Kajal Bansal

2. With Rishi Sunak becoming the British PM, does India benefit in any way? -Dr. Rashmi Bhagat

3. Food distribution in India-the way ahead -Mudra Padmashali

4. Is being a Hindu more important than being an Indian? Should we have to choose?” -Jatin Sethi (Winner)

Selected Essay Topics: October 2022

1. Analyze the economic status of India vis-a-vis the world economic scenario -Vijay Sridhar

2. Is Success a mind game or sheer hard work? -Mudra Padmashali

Selected Essay Topics: August 2022

1. Lending hands to someone is better than giving a dole. -Vijay Sridhar (Winner)

2. Quick but steady wins the race -Mudra p (Winner)

3. Dreams which should not let India sleep -SHUVAJYOTI DUTTA

4. Dreams which should not let India sleep. -Sangeeta Paul

5. Dreams which should not let India sleep. -Muhammad Fasal (Winner)

Selected Essay Topics: June 2022

1. Role of money in health and happiness -Jnandeep Bora

2. Role of Money in Health and happiness -Dr.Rashmi Bhat

3. Work life balance how can it be achieved? -Dr. Reshma Bhat

4. Work life balance how can it be achieved? -Ani Ysl

5. Work life balance how can it be achieved? -Sangeeta Paul

6. Role of money in health and happiness -Anusha Kolli (Winner)

Selected Essay Topics: April & May 2022

1. How important is that PT/sports class in school? -AISHWARYA THORAM

2. How important is that PT/sports class in school? -Dr.Reshma Bhat

3. How Important is that PT/ sports class in school ? -Abraham Johnson Anchaniyil

4. The effect of war in modern days with reference to Ukaraine and Russia. -SATARUPA MUKHERJEE

5. How important is that PT/Sport class in school? -JNANDEEP BORA

Selected Essay Topics: February & March 2022

1. What is important for the voters of India? Do they carry away by propaganda? -Jayant Joshi

2. What should we do to improve Indians to be honest in public life? -VAISHNAVI GUDIBANDI

3. What is important for the voters of India? Do they carried away by propaganda? -Jayant Joshi

4. What should we do to inspire Indians to be honest in public life? -Twinkle

5. What is important for the voters of India? Do they get carried away by propaganda? -JNANDEEP BORA (Winner)

Selected Essay Topics: January 2022

1. India’s economic growth, the way forward -Anusha Kolli

Selected Essay Topics: December 2021

1. Should money weigh over choice passion in the choice of career? -Twinkle

2. The Corona virus, it’s variants and the way forward -Dr. Reshma Bhat (Winner)

3. How useful is celebrating festivals for human society? -Rashmi Bhat

4. How useful is celebrating festivals for human society? -Jayant Joshi

5. How useful is celebrating festivals for human society? -Anusha Kolli (Winner)

6. The Corona Virus , it`s variants and the way forward -Sanjyot Dhavale

7. Should money weigh over choice, passion in the choice of career? -Muhammad Fasal (Winner)

Selected Essay Topics: December - 2019

• Are we corrupt as a nation? How can the common man stay away from activities that encourage Corruption? -SRISHAKTHI.M
• Are we corrupt as a nation? How can the common man stay away from activities that encourage Corruption? -ADARSH BAJPAI
• Are we corrupt as a nation? How can the common man stay away from activities that encourage Corruption? -ARPIT SAMANT (Winner)
• Air Pollution, the road ahead. Will using alternate number cars, no firecrackers in Diwali help? -NIVEDITA ROY (Winner)
• Air Pollution, the road ahead. Will using alternate number cars, no firecrackers in Diwali help? -Sangeeta Paul
• Is nationalism above humanism? -ABRAHAM JOHNSON ANCHANIYIL
• Is nationalism above humanism? -Sujeet Kumar (Winner)
• Should India, Pakistan and Bangladesh become one country? List advantages and disadvantages. -JNANDEEP BORA (Winner)

Selected Essay Topics: November - 2019

• Unemployment in India and the roadmap ahead. - SADIQUE MD YUSUF SHAIKH (Winner)
• Rural development – what are the possibilities?. - ZEENAT ABDUL KARIM SHAIKH
• Rural development – what are the possibilities?. - NIVEDITA ROY (Winner)
• Can live in relationships be considered a new age form of marriage? - shuvajyoti dutta
• Can live in relationships be considered a new age form of marriage? - JNANDEEP BORA. (Winner)
• What does the youth of India want? Engaging the youth. - Shaoni Chakraborty
• What does the youth of India want? Engaging the youth. - Rachna Gupta (Winner)

Selected Essay Topics: October - 2019

• Biased Media is a real threat to Indian Democracy. - Sangeeta paul (Winner)
• Biased Media is a real threat to Indian Democracy. - Surya M
• Rise of Artificial Intelligence : the threat of jobless future through reskilling and upskilling - Maryam Maqsood (Winner)
• Courage to accept and decision to improve are two keys to success - SRISHAKTHI.M (Winner)

Selected Essay Topics: September - 2019

• How Important the Role of a Housewife to India’s Economic Growth? - Srishakthi.M
• Feeding India's Billion plus Population , the Roadmap Ahead. - Uday Kiran.D
• What Does Marriage Mean to the Millennials in India? - Surya. M
• What Does Marriage Mean to the Millennials in India? - Abraham Johnson Anchaniyil.
• Feeding India's Billion plus Population , the Roadmap Ahead. - Niharika Tahasheeldar
• Tree Plantation Drives, Are They Enough to Get Sufficient Rains - Prathamesh Mahajan
• Feeding India's Billion plus Population , the Roadmap Ahead. - Krupan.P.M (Winner)
• Feeding India's Billion plus Population , the Roadmap Ahead. - Goutham.R
• What Does Marriage Mean to the Millennials in India? - Jnandeep Bora (Winner)
• How Important the Role of a Housewife to India’s Economic Growth? - Nikita Mehta
• Feeding India's Billion plus Population , the Roadmap Ahead. - Shuvajyoti Dutta

Selected Essay Topics: August - 2019

• Fulfilment of ”new Women” in India Is a Myth - Dr.Rashmi Bhat.
• Fulfilment of ”new Women” in India Is a Myth - Yohalakshmi Nethi Gopalakrishnan
• Farming Has Lost the Ability to Be a Source of Subsistence for Majority of Farmers in India - M.Surya (Winner)
• Is There Enough Employment for the Youth of India? What Can Be Done? - Jnandeep Bora. (Winner)

Selected Essay Topics: July - 2019

• Customary Morality Cannot Be a Guide to Modern Life - Karthiayani Nair
• A Good Life Is One Inspired by Love and Guided by Knowledge - Krupan P M (Winner)
• A People That Values Its Privileges above Its Principles, Loses Both - Shuvajyoti Dutta

Selected Essay Topics: June - 2019

• Alternative Technologies for Climate Change. - Surya
• Alternative Technologies for Climate Change. - Sayyed Samreen Roomi
• Poverty Anywhere is a Threat to Prosperity Everywhere. - Durgesh Kumar Singh (Winner)
• Poverty Anywhere is a Threat to Prosperity Everywhere. - Mimansa Sahrawat
• Poverty Anywhere is a Threat to Prosperity Everywhere. - Jnandeep Bora

Selected Essay Topics: May - 2019

• Rise of Religious Terrorism in Sri Lanka - Sayed Nishat Tanaum (Winner)
• India's Decision to Create Indo-pacific Division. - Malavika.R
• The Proposal to Allow Dentist Practice as General Physician. - Reshma Bhat.DR

Selected Essay Topics: April - 2019

• Rahul Gandhi's minimum income guarantee scheme - Harshini Manthripragada (Winner)

Selected Essay Topics: March - 2019

• Priyanka Gandhi and her entry into politics - JNANDEEP BORA (Winner)
• Pulwama terror attack and its aftermath - Amit Aseri (Selected)
• Government announcement of No tax for income till Rs. 5 lakh - Sneha Lad (Selected)

Essay Topics: February - 2019

• 10 Per Cent Reservation For General Category - Veena Goyal (Winner)
• 10 Per Cent Reservation For General Category - Manish Kumar (Selected)
• Economic Offenders in India - Abraham Johnson Achaniyil (Selected)

Essay Topics: January - 2019

• Plastic ban in India - Manish Kumar (Winner)
• Importance of reservation of seats for women in Parliament - Dr Rashmi Bhat (Selected)
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Civil Service Essay Contest May - June 2024

• Are elections free and fair in India?
• Is employment is real issue in India as compared to other countries? What can we do to improve the situation?
• Should we do away with reservation and open up to all as equal opportunity?

Civil Service Essay Contest (March 2024)

• Changing trends in the female workforce, how it can be harnessed for better growth. Views : 1978
• Is the caste barrier breaking due to increased love marriages in India? Views : 2899

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