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Home(../../index.html)Subject(../index.html)Anthropology(index.html)Strategy

SuggestedStrategyforAnthropology
2008AnthropologyStrategyandSyllabus
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9/1/2016 SuggestedStrategyforAnthropology,TipsforAnthropologyIASExams,IASPreparation,CivilServiceExamStudyGuide,HelponCivilServiceExam,

ANTHROPOLOGYISNOWSAFERTHANTHESAFEST
Anthropologyisperhapstheonlyoptionalthesyllabusofwhichhasbeencutdrastically.Whilegeography
maynotremainaslucrativebecauseofsignificantenhancementinsyllabusbutmoreimportantlybecause
ofeliminationofmapquestioninpaperI,publicadministrationandphilosophy,despiterevisionofsyllabus
maynotgainmuch,History,becomeofitsmorechannelizedsyllabus,maybecomebetteroptionalfor
scoring.Sciencesubjects,despitebeingscoring,mayremainaselusive.
ThoughAnthropologymaynotgainitsoldglorysoon,itisdefinitetoseegooddaysagain.Becauseof
deletionoftopicsTwins,ReproductiveBiology,DevelopmentAnthropology,Ethnicityetc.itislikelytobe
popularagainwithaspirants,ofsocialsciences/commercebackground.Becauseofreductioninthe
contentofanthropologicalthought,researchmethodologyanddemography,itislikelytoregainits
popularityamongaspirantswithscience/commercebackground.
MainsSyllabusofAnthropology(mainsyllabus.html)
QuestionPapersofAnthropology(questionpapers.html)
CivilServiceExamBookforAnthropology(suggestedreading.html)

NowAnthropologysyllabuscanbereadas:
PaperIPartI
(i)Introduction(Meaning&Scope)
(ii)Institutions(Marriage,Family,Kinshipetc.)
(iii)AnthropologicalThought(muchreduced,specified)
(iv)MedicalAnthropology
(v)CommunicationAnthropology(Added)
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(vi)ResearchMethodology(Reduced)
(vii)CulturalEvolution
PaperIPartII
i)EvolutionandGenetics(withouttwins,reproductivebiology)
ii)Primates
iii)Race(Reduced)
iv)Humanphysicalgrowth
v)Humanadaptability
vi)Geneticaldemography(reducedsignificantly)
vii)Applications(Reduced)

PaperII
AddedEthnoarcheologyotherwisenosignificantchange.
Asawholeanthropologyhasbecomefavourabletoeverybodyassecondoptional(optionalformains
only).
Thenewsyllabusismuchmorestreamlinedandvagueness,discrepancies,repetitionsetc.ofprevious
syllabushavebeenremovedtoamajorextentthroughsomestillpersist.
ForexampleDollo's(wronglywrittenasDolls,asinoldsyllabus)&Cope'setc.lawsarearchaic.Outdated
topicswhicharenotdiscussedevenittoday'sevolutionarybiology,fromwhichthesehavebeenborrowed,
butfindaplaceonceagain(Readersmustrememberthatthesehaveneverbeenaskedasquestionsever
sincethesewereintroducedintheyear2000).

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9/1/2016 SuggestedStrategyforAnthropology,TipsforAnthropologyIASExams,IASPreparation,CivilServiceExamStudyGuide,HelponCivilServiceExam,

But,asawhole,therevisedsyllabusismuchmorewelldefined.Forexample,theprevioussyllabus(in
paperIItopicfive)read"ApproachestothestudyofIndiansociety".Nowithasbeenmadeexplicit,aswas
thecaseinpre1995syllabus.
Strategy
However,candidatesdonotneedtochangetheirstrategyasdiscussedbymeinthesepages,acoupleof
monthsago.Then,forIAS2007examIhadsuggestedthatinpaperItheremustbeatleastonequestion
fromgenetics,anotheroneformRacesGrowthEcologywhileathirdonefrominstitutions.Inthepaper,
therewasonequestioneachongeneticsandecology,butthereweretwofrominstitutions(pol.
organizationandreligion).ThesametrendmaycontinueforIAS'08.
However,smallnewtopics(e.g.datingmethods,ethnoarcheology)maybeaskedasshortnoteswhile
primitivetribalgraphs(PTGs)maybeaskedasessaytype.
Letmewarmyouthatbeselectiveonlyafterhavingtheknowledgeofallthefundamentalsofthesyllabus.
Otherwisethestrategymaybackfire.
Likeeverynewsubject,thefirstthingtodoistounderstandfundamentalsincludingterminology.Agood
DictionaryofAnthropology(e.g.McMillan's)andbasicbooks(e.g.HavilandorEmber&Ember&NCERTs)
shouldbereallyhelpful.
AsAnthropology,byitsorigin,isorientedscientifically,theanswersshouldbepinpointedandtothepoint.
Forthisyoushouldhavegoodpracticeofwritinganswersandgettingevaluatedfromsomeonewhonot
onlyknowsthesubjectbutalsounderstandstherequirementsofthisparticularexam.Thenewsyllabus(of
1995)isabout25percentmoreinquantity,(butalmostsameatconceptuallevel),yetitisatleast10
percentmorescoring.Thelatestsyllabusismuchmorescoringandscoring200marksinPaperInowis
nottoodiffifucltatask.Withthis
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knowledge,optingAnthropologyassecondoptionalforMainsisnotabadbargain.
MainsSyllabusofAnthropology(mainsyllabus.html)|QuestionPapersofAnthropology(questionpapers.html)|
SuggestedStrategyforAnthropology(strategy.html)|CivilServiceExamBookforAnthropology(suggested
reading.html)

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