Note: There a total of 3 blog posts on Anthropology. This first article primarily talks about my book list and the basic approach I followed. The and articles deal with topic wise detailed plan for Paper I and II respectively.MarksheetBook ListThese are the sources I referred to for my Anthropology optional.
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There is no need to read these books from end to end. You must go topic wise as per the syllabus and read these books to get a good grip over the subject.
Anthropologist Jane Goodall with our Chimp cousin. This on her life is fantastic. Image credit: www.neverapart.comBasic PlanWhile you refer to the aforementioned booklist, these are some of the tips you should keep in mind.
If you are a complete beginner in Anthropology, your focus must be on gaining conceptual clarity and not on quickly completing the syllabus. Always remember that on the final day, it’s your clear understanding of the subject that lets you write good answers.
In the booklist I mentioned, there’s no need to read every book from cover to cover. When you are reading from a book, always have the relevant syllabus chapter/ topic and previous years’ questions in mind. They will help you to stay focussed and will give you an idea of how much to study from each book. For absolute beginners, Ember and Ember is a great book to start with. When I began preparing for Anthro in Jan 2017, I started with this book. I loved it so much that I read it cover to cover, even though such detailed reading is not at all needed from the exam point of view.
If you are making notes, they must be rich and comprehensive in content. For this, start with one standard core book, make notes from it and then add relevant content from other books. I’ve dealt with this in detail in my subsequent posts to this article. For both the papers, wherever relevant, quoting examples and illustrating with diagrams is absolutely pivotal. Paper I must have tribes names from the rest of the world. Ember and Ember is rich resource for many such examples but the pity is that there’s no way to memorise them except by rote.
Collect such examples in an A4 sheet and revise over and over. Attempt as many Physical Anthropology questions as possible. They are largely static with immense scope for diagrams.
You shouldn’t go wrong on those. Use internet and YouTube extensively for understanding Physical Anthropology concepts (especially Genetics). You can find very good explainer videos and documentaries. In your answers, wherever relevant, you can also write about the latest findings in the field.
For example, in a topic like genetic inheritance, briefly mention about current research in epigenome, DNA methylation and how it affects gene expression. Answer like a specialist. Definitions, introductions, criticisms must be scholarly. That is, you must mention Anthropologists’ name, their work (year of publication too, if you can), its criticism by other thinkers.
Bronislaw Malinowski in his work “Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922)” describes the importance of Kula Ring in the economic systems of Trobriand Islanders b. Franz Boas in his article “The Limitation of the Comparative Method of Anthropology (1896)” criticized the evolutionary approach and laid the foundations of Historical Particularism. For a particular concept, apart from the main thinker, try and quote works of other Anthropologists as well.
For example: In Tribe-Caste Continuum of Paper II, everyone writes about Bailey, but if you can also substantiate your answer with works of Surajit Sinha on Maria Gonds, this will give your answer an edge. Use internet and newspapers to collect good case studies to illustrate Tribal problems. Cram latest statistics pertaining to them. A thorough reading of Xaxa report is an absolute must for Tribal related portions of the syllabus. Keep tabs on the latest news pertaining to Anthropology.
It can be a new fossil discovery, launch of a new govt scheme for PVTGs, or a new finding in genetic research etc. When you read papers, have an eye out for such news and collect them in a separate notebook so that you can revise them before the exam. Apart from reading books, dedicate adequate time to practise diagrams and label them correctly.
Consistent practice helps you draw fast and draw neat.Anthropology is a terrific subject to learn. If you put your heart into it, you can easily ace this optional.
My best wishes.Note: For the benefit of UPSC aspirants, I am working on a detailed guide book on how to write powerful Essays and compelling answers (GS and Anthropology Optional) in the UPSC exam. To download a free chapter and to hear first when the book launches. ↓. DAYAHello Anudeep Sir,Ist of all heartiest Congratulations on your great Success&Thank u so much for such informatic blog,One of my humble request to u sirplz if you have collection/notesin soft copies PDF/DOC format related to – Anthropology/GS/ESSAY Etc whatever,Sir could u plz email me or share it if it is on google drive atmy email id-Sir i wud be tthankful to u.I know you might be having tIGHT schedule and may not have time to share it but yours 5 minutes will save my 5 months & will help me a lot sir plzzzzzThanks & regards.DAYA. ↓. KavyaDhurishettygaru,a lot of candidates clearing this time had Anthropology as their optional so my coaching suggested I change mine because this one might not perform so well next year.
Is there any truth to this? Are optionals really subject to such trends? I would gladly switch to another ( I’m considering psychology but I’m worried I’d have to compete with graduates and post graduates in the subject) since I haven’t really started on Anthropology and the only reason I chose it was because my graduation subject (dentistry) is not amongst the optionals and I liked “The Selfish Gene”.And if you suggest I stick with Anthropology then how many months should I give to it? Do I have enough time to complete it properly to attempt in 2019? ↓. Anudeep Durishetty Post authorLet’s say in Quantum Physics if I get consistently poor marks, I’d be fine with it because I know that I suck at that subject.
But the the problem I had with Pub Ad was that to see a subject with such sterile, deceased content was delivering such poor marks even after preparing so thoroughly. As I mentioned in my ForumIAS video (available on YouTube) even after 4 years of preparing for Pub Ad, when I saw a question, I had no idea where to start or what to write.Tackling each Pub Ad question became a perverse exercise in decoding the examiner’s mindset rather than answering each question clearly and directly. That uncertainty and obscurity was just killing me.
And not to mention the fact that since day one, I found theories of “thinkers” like McGregor, Argyris, Likert, Mary Follet to be lifeless, pretentious and total garbage.Add to it the fact that, “questions” in Pub Ad are random quotes taken from some godforsaken research paper that NO ONE ever cared about except the paper setter. How do I write about a quote without its context?
When you are asked such question, you are inevitably sucked into that deathly vortex of double-guessing examiners’ intention in asking the question, instead of answering the question itself.So all of it pushed me to change my optional. And when I wanted to take a new optional, of course I was very reluctant to write off that massive four year sunk cost in Pub Ad. But I always told myself: “If I fail with Anthro, that’s okay. I would be failing on my own terms and not because of an awful subject like Pub Ad”Sorry if it felt like a rant, but since you asked, I wanted tell you my reasoning clearly and honestly.
If you could relate to the difficulties I faced with Pub Ad, then probably it’s time to dump it.Regarding Anthro, I prepared for it along with a job, so I took around 6 months to finish it. If you aren’t working, then 4 months is good enough time to do it. ↓. naina taraCongratulations Anudeep 🙂your article was quite interesting and covered a lot of my doubts questions, esp where should i start reading from.This will be my first attempt. I just started preparation without coaching. So, i don’t really know about how good are coaching materials.
I am assuming they would cover everything in the syllabus as they are specifically designed for UPSC. A lot of toppers refer to various institutes coaching materialWhy would one need different coaching materials Various Books are fine but materials!!So, can you please let me know if its just to clear concepts or for case studies or is there any other reason? I want to buy Brain tree materiali am a science student fascinated by Anthropology. Still thought Pub ad will help me without really looking at anthro.
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Was only driven by which optional will help me cover considerable mains syllabusi even bought all the pub ad books:-D. Could not figure out what was bothering me after readinga little.Your blog answered what was putting me off about pub ad. ↓. Naina TaraHi Anudeep,I read your other articles on Anthropology. Your articles are amazing. Simple and detailed coverage. I wonder how long you took 🙂 thank you very much.I have a few more questions today.1.
Did you buy the brain tree material from Amazon? They don’t have it on their website which is unlikely though2. Brain tree is a coaching material – Anthropology simplified is a “For UPSC in Q & A format”.
From you articles what i understood is Brain tree is for concepts in paper II. Anthropology Simplified is for diagrams in Paper I and a few concepts in paper II.
Please correct me if there is more to it.3. I was always a text book reader, no question banks – that’s the reason behind these similar kind of questions. – Do you suggest reading relevant topics from a book and building on it from other books during second revision answer writing Or Read each topic from all the books – make your own notes and revise!! ↓.Hello Sir.I am doing my Master;s in Zoology but still find it enormous to complete. I am thinking of switching to Anthropology for my maiden attempt in 2020, because of slight overlap with Zoology (evolution, genetics, etc.) and also because of my genuine interest in the subject. Can you please tell me if it is able to completely and conceptually understand this subject with only self study?
I can manage 4 hours per day for optional, how much time will it take to complete the syllabus?Thanks. ↓. LalitHi Anudeep,My age is 30 and this will be my 4th and last attempt(i.e.
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Starting from today means Feb 1st, I have started with Anthro because earlier I had Pub Ad as my optional and I don’t have any confidence in that subject.My Query: As I am starting today, I only have, for Anthro 2.5, months before pre in June and at max 1.5 months after it, considering 5-6 hours daily and revision requirements. Considering this time crunch, if you can please suggest that if this time devotion is enough or not. Because I am really worried if the syllabus will get finished or not.Thanks in advance and Congratulations.