One of the toughest tasks in CSS written part is to get through the Essay paper. CSS aspirants put around 60% of their efforts in preparing English Essay, and English Grammar & Composition papers. However, they account for only 17% of the overall weightage. Some clichés, false practices and our mindset make it a herculean task. Without delay, let us ponder on the issue and hope things will get easier after that.

How to Write Scoring Essays in CSS Exam?

COMMON HURDLES

Time (Mis)management

Essay is the first paper. It is also true that we always take time to kick off. By the time we start writing essay, it is almost 10:00am. So, do manage your time .

ROAD TO ESSAY WRITING

1. Stick to the basics;  parts of speech, tenses, punctuation, sentence structure, vocabulary, paragraph writing, and all other basic components of English should be learnt. This can be done by reading a simple grammar book.
2. There are few common rules of writing essay that should be learnt rigorously.
3. Practicing short essays will give you command over essay writing and putting firm foundation for full length essay.
4. Going through past papers, and by following current trends, shortlist some topics and collect relevant material. How much will be sufficient can be gauged by developing detailed outline of each topic.
   Material can be gathered from two sources: One; books, magazines, newspapers, journals, etc. Two; from official documents like Quarterly reports of SBP, Economic Survey of Pakistan; reports of international agencies like WB, IMF, ADB, UN, USAID etc; treaties, agreements, etc. They are significant in order to strengthen your discourse skills.
5. Practice essay after CSS pattern and get it evaluated. This should be done regularly especially in Dec and Jan. In this way, you will feel less pressure in actual examination.

TECHNIQUES FOR CSS ESSAY

1. Selection of Topic

This is crucial. Read question paper extensively. List the topics you can write on and brainstorm. Make rough outlines of those and then finalize one topic.

2. Uncommon Topics

There are some unusual topics in paper, which need advanced knowledge of a particular field or sometimes general understanding of many concepts. Let’s elaborate few topics from past papers to understand this:

“Literature is the best criticism of life” (2010)

1. Preamble:
2. What is Literature; definitions:
3. Origin of Literature as a reflection of life:
4. Development of Literature and shades of society in it:
5. Excerpts from Medieval English poetry and Elizabethan drama to authenticate its relationship with life:
6. Arabic literature; pre-Islamic & Islamic periods:
7. Pakistan Movement and Urdu Literature:
8. Literature and Pakistani Society:
9. Global trends in modern literature & relevance to life:
10. Critical Analysis:

End Note:

“Beggars cannot be choosers” (2012)

1.  Introduction:
2. Meaning and relevance of the Quote:
3. Economic dependency of Pakistan:
4. Economic aid and its impacts on Foreign Policy:
5. Can Pakistan achieve economic independence ever:
6. Relevance of the quote with Indo-Pak ties:
7. Suggestions to make Pakistan truly independent:
8. Conclusion:

“Freedom of speech should have limitations” (2013)

1. Introduction
2. Media in Pakistan; perfect match for the quote
3. Freedom of speech, if unbridled can be dangerous; elabo
rations and illustrations from Pakistan
4. Government policies and freedom of media in Pakistan
5. Challenges to freedom of speech in Pakistan
6. Ways and means to ensure freedom of speech with re
sponsibility
7. Conclusion

3. Outline

Outline is the skeleton of essay. It should be very comprehensive and elaborated.
A sample outline of topic “Failure of Governance in Pakistan”
1. Introduction
2. Prerequisites of good governance:
2.1  Rule of law
2.2  Accountability
2.3  Equal distribution of resources and opportuni
ties
2.4  Service delivery
3. Evidences of failure of governance in Pakistan
3.1  Absence of rule of law
3.2  state organs and national institutions are con
tradicting and overriding each other
3.3  Rampant extremism, terrorism and security is
sues
3.4  Insurmountable domestic and international
political  Challenges
3.5  Nepotism, favoritism and corruption have be
come inherent features of institutions
3.6  Consistently deploring economic condition
and rising unemployment, poverty and
inflation
3.7  Rupturing social infrastructure, degrading
social institutions and widespread social
unrest
4. In-depth analysis on current state of governance:
5. Solutions to ensure good governance in Pakistan:
5.1 Strong and independent parliament
5.2 Rule of law and no institutional activism
5.3 Drastic measures to curb Terrorism
5.3 De-politicization of administration
5.4 Strict enforcement of Law and accountability
5.5 Ensuring service delivery through public private
Partnership, higher GDP allocations and by attracting
FDI
5.6 Building human resource and enhancing job base to
utilize human resource
5.7 Optimum utilization of indigenous resources to re
duce fiscal and trade deficits and economic uplift
5.8 Planned urbanization, controlled population growth
and infusing high moral
6. Conclusion

4. Language

Write short sentences. Use simple vocabulary. Avoid informal writing and contractions.
Give statistics with reference. Quote properly. Analyze with reason.

5. Introduction

General structure of introduction should be:

Topic Sentence (addressing the topic directly)

Supporting Sentences (6 – 8 sentences comprising explanations, examples, statistics, quotations etc., in support of topic sentence i.e. statement of essay)
Thesis Statement (gist of essay in 1 or 2 sentences)
A sample introduction for the same topic is as under:
Good governance in Pakistan has become an unrealized dream. (Topic Sentence)
History is evident of the fact that nations did not vanish due to poverty or hunger, but because of mal-administration and bad governance. Pakistan has been home to many serious troubles including terrorism, corruption, energy crisis, water crisis, rising poverty and uncontrolled urbanization. But if causes are traced there is only one answer and that is absence of good governance. If recent events are traced back, it will be unveiled that Pakistan must have not fallen prey to such serious problems had there been better governance system. But quite unfortunately, governance kept deteriorating and so did the system. There must be realization among the giants of administration and governance that why there is always need of judiciary to correct their ills? Why at the end of every disaster foreign aid becomes the sole resort? Why after every security failure foreign hand is blamed? The answer is same that when system of governance is absent; the vacuum is filled by those who have no role to play in it. (Supporting Sentences)
The following paragraphs should highlight main ingredients of good governance followed by the evidences on absence of good governance in Pakistan. Leading to the end. there will be analysis of current situation along with solutions to ensure good governance . (Thesis Statement)

Body

Follow the sequence of the outline
Write paragraph for each major point in outline

Conclusion

Thesis statement
Supporting sentences
Topic sentence

CONCLUSION
Write relevant and practice to get perfection. More prepared you are, lesser are the chances of failure. Remember that aforementioned views and techniques are not absolute. Essay is all about presenting arguments in convincing way. But as CSS candidates have limited understanding of language, restricted time and different things to deal with, it is not advisable to experiment with language. Write less but write quality. Fluency, coherence, brevity and reason will make you win.