Saeed Wazir mentors students of CSS Essay, Précis and Current Affairs and specializes in English literature, language and linguistics from NUML. He has perused Media studies at NUST. He qualified PMS three times in a row. He serves at federal universities as marking instructor. He has been mentoring CSS English students for the last seven years and runs Facebook page: CSS Essay, Précis with Saeed Wazir. He is based in G 9/2 ,Islamabad and runs special batches of CSS Essay Précis both On-Campus and Online. He could be reached at csspms55@gmail. com and WhatsApp plus Phone no 03450997822. He contributes to CSS Times, Daily Times, Dawn, Foreign Policy and IPRI. He evaluates Online Essays, Précis and Comprehension.
The longer, protracted conflict/stand-off between Azerbaijan and Armenia stems from long-standing territorial and ethnic conflagration which can result in mass-scale displacement, blanket destruction, and, above all, increased involvement of outside powers risking a wider regional war.
Essay writing is an academic skill .It requires holistic understanding of theoretical aspects (principles, rules, forms, methods, layout ) and continued implementation phases (writing from sentence, paragraph mini Essay to fully fledged Essay. Getting it checked and keeping catalogues of errors).
Based on my practical experiences in competitive examinations and academic teaching in different coaching academies ,I am going to explain the enigma of writing in the form of dialogue between two students of mine at the Civil Officers Academy.
Dialogue between Izzaz and Javeria about CSS Essay Writing
Javeria: Hi Izzaz!When I start Writing CSS essay, I feel it is all Greek to me? What should be the modus operandi for successfully tackling this mind boggling assignment? Is there any short cut to it ?
Izzaz: Hey Javeria! I hope you are in the best spirit. It is not difficult but only different .Practically speaking, English language is a second language, and we need to learn it mechanically by following it’s hard and fast rules like players do in sports .The salient features are as follows:
CSS essay paper tends to be a litmus test for aspirants. Based on factual data and my first hand experience, it’s neither difficult nor impossible to qualify. It’s only different from the rest of the papers on account of its diverse contents, only one_ topic paper and straight knockout in the competition. As am on marathon travelling spree, I have decided to share my random thoughts with the beleaguered CSS community. There might be Syntactic and Semantic errors, therefore, I say apology in advance.
According to the FPSC, the syllabus for the coming FIA descriptive test has not finalised yet. It will, however, will be based on short Essay, Precis and comprehension passage.
The Punjab PMS exam is going to be held from 7 April. Due to a barrage of requests I received on social media regarding letter writing in PMS exam, I have made up my mind to write on this issue on CSS Times for facilitating the aspirants collectively. A formal letter in the Punjab PMS exam is addressed to higher authorities, dignitaries, colleagues, and seniors. The language is academic and formal, following the salient features of writing norms. It is different from letters we write in our daily life to our close friends, family and relatives.
It is possible to writing official letters in different styles. Without following principles of academic writing, letter writing a futile exercise .Keeping in view the ironclad, watertight dynamics of letter writing in PMS exam, the following vitally significant characteristics should be followed in true letter and spirit.
“To write is human, to edit is divine.” — Stephen King
Writing is both physical and mental endeavor. Apparently, writing an essay seems to be very difficult. Why writing a paragraph, a mini essay or a full-fledged essay are challenging and grueling task given the fact aspirants to competitive exams are university graduates? Is it due to the complex phenomenon of English as a second language or the problem lies with the very education system and teaching methodologies?
A million dollar question is: Why students join 5-marla academies or a single classroom for acing CSS English essay, in particular, and the rest of the subjects, in general? Based on my practical experience in CSS English classes, majority of students are graduates from well-reputed universities seeking tutorship and teaching desperately. Does it signify that teachers at the level of higher education are either unwilling or incapable of equipping students for the insurmountable future challenges or students due to lack of interest and career counseling miss on important philosophical and practical dynamics of their studies ?
ESSAY writing is a struggle between a writer and a topic.
Keeping in view students’ inherent needs and common difficulties, I have decided to come up with pragmatic, practicable and comprehensive techniques, strategies and plans for acing Essay and Précis papers in a systematic way. They are as follows:
According to FDR, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself .”To put it in simple words, never be afraid of a thing you have to face inevitably.
Small surprise, the paper of US history went flat previous year in CSS. A great deal of deserving and potentially capable students were failed in this paper.
To one’s great joy, this paper is still rewarding given the fact one’s approach, method and writing skills are at least average.
As a potential way-out, do not go to exam hall with previous year failure mentality. Be innovative and imaginative.
Sociology in CSS and PMS is both easy and complex. Sometimes it’s rewarding while sometimes it’s punishing. It’s all about one’s approach how to handle questions .simply, it’s more practical and less theoretical in nature.
These questions need systemic balance between past and present. Students fail to understand their relevance in current scenario and ends up writing about past only. For example, they forget to extent Khaldun’s and Durkheim’s theories of national integration and suicide to current realities respectively.
So in a bid to convince your examiner, try to transform your answers by keeping salient features of Pakistani and other societies and make them relevant by combining both the past and the present in a
Majority of candidates attempt questions on socialisation, stratification, addiction, delinquent behaviour, etc., theoretically failing to relate them with Pakistan and local cultures. Examiners ask questions in Pakistan specific context.
It’s better to know about Pakistan’s social, political , economic, religious and cultural orientations and make them part and parcel of your answers.
These questions require extensive reading and should be elaborated with facts and figures. They include poverty, prostitution, nmigration ,ethnocentrism, urbanisation, etc.
Try to come up with out of the box solutions and displays general intelligence of the intricate issues at hand.
These questions are rewarding in terms of high scores. They are open ended and can be developed in several ways. But do not get distracted as it might result in redundancy and decontextualised materials.
They are general in nature. Better to go for authors names and their books. Go through the Economic Survey of Pakistan for recent data in terms of demographic dynamics.
Make outline consisting of 8 or 10 major points.
Read questions and answer each part holistically.
Give headings so as to facilitate your examiner.
In a bid to support your answer, give references from books, authors, newspapers and magazines.
Read Abdul Hamid Taga’s book or Jiskani’s booklet.
I scored more than 70 in CSS and PMS by the grace of Allah Almighty. Try to understand and give answers qualitatively rather than digressing from the main points. So be relevant and precise.
Use quotations and saying of philosophers, intellectuals and great authorities frequently in your answers.
Best regards. Fingers crossed for the best. Trust thyself.
A. Root word jihada mean to struggle, to strive for anything good for human beings
B. It is not holy war as propagated by the west
A. Individual level jihad -Means believing in the unity of Allah in its entirety-inner struggle
B. Collective jihad-Jihad as a general concept
1. Intellectual jihad-Inviting people to good deeds and discouraging from bad acts
2. Economic jihad-Investing oneself in person and in terms of resources in the way of Allah for greater goodness
3. Physical jihad-Fight in the cause of Allah on behalf of the oppressed
The paper of Pakistan affairs in CSS consists of three major parts: pre-partition, post-partition and the current developments. Pragmatically, each part warrants distinct, clinical and comprehensive approach. Today, I have received a lot queries regarding time mismanagement and study plane. The following are the golden principles of attempting Pakistan affairs paper in CSS.