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ESSAY QUESTION PAPER : UPSC Civil Services IAS Exam MAINS 2022

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ESSAY QUESTION  PAPER – UPSC Civil Services  IAS Mains – 2022

1. Forests are the best case studies for economic excellence

2. Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world

3. History is a series of victories won by the scientific man over the romantic man

4. A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ship is for

5. The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining

6. You cannot step twice in the same river

7. A smile is the chosen vehicle for all ambiguities

8. Just because you have a choice, it does not mean that any of them has to be right.

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(परीक्षा पेपर) UPSC IAS मुख्य परीक्षा : निबंध (Essay)

• UPSC Mains Essay Compulsory Paper - 2022 निबंध
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Essay Paper UPSC 2020 (Mains): Question Paper and Analysis

Last updated on January 9, 2021 by ClearIAS Team

UPSC conducted the  Essay Paper , as part of the Civil Services Main Exam 2020 on 08-01-2021.

There were 8 Essay topics, out of which candidates were asked to write on two topics in 3 hours.

Table of Contents

Essay Paper UPSC 2020 Instructions

• Total Marks: 250 marks, Time duration: 3 hours.
• The essay must be written in the medium authorized in the admission certificate which must be stated clearly on the cover of this question-cum-answer (QCA) booklet in the space provided.
• No marks will be given for answers written in the medium other than the authorized one.
• Word limit, as specified, should be adhered to.
• Any page or portion of the page left blank, must be struck off clearly.

Essay Question Paper – UPSC Civil Services Main Exam (Written) 2020

Write two essays, choosing one topic from each of the following Sections A and B, in about 1000-1200 words each:

• Life is long journey between human being and being humane
• Mindful manifesto is the catalyst to a tranquil self
• Ships do not sink because of water around them,  ships sink because of water that gets into them
• Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication
• Culture is what we are, civilization is what we have
• There can be no social justice without economic prosperity but economic prosperity without social justice is meaningless
• Patriarchy is the least noticed yet the most significant structure of social inequality
• Technology as the silent factor in international relations

Though aspirants were asked to write only two essays out of eight, most aspirants faced difficulty to select the right combination of two essays.

A philosophical theme was present in most of the essay topics in Section A as well as Section B.

As per most aspirants, the essay topic ‘Mindful manifesto is the catalyst to a tranquil self’ seemed the most tricky one. Only a few attempted that topic.

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UPSC has ensured that the essay topics were much different from the GS questions.

As we have mentioned many times, Essay needs a different approach than GS. Only those candidates with good essay writing skills will score high in this year’s essay paper.

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UPSC Main English Question Paper

UPSC English question papers are listed below for candidate's reference. This question bank comprises question papers of 10 years, which enable aspirants to get familiar with the question paper pattern and the syllabus to focus on while preparing for the exam.

The question papers you find are Union Public Service Commission papers. Go through the papers carefully for further reference and preparation. Practice these question papers to be well versed with English.

We have uploaded 10 years question papers from 2013 to latest 2023 question papers for the subject English . Apart from this paper, below are the links for question papers of other subjects .

Download Question Paper

• UPSC Main English - 2013
• UPSC Main English - 2014
• UPSC Main English - 2015
• English - Compulsory Subject [Civil Services (Main) Examination - 2016 Question Paper]
• English Compulsory Subject [Civil Services (Main) Examination - 2017 Question Paper]
• English - Compulsory Subject [Civil Services (Main) Examination – 2019 Question Paper]
• English - Compulsory Subject [Civil Services (Main) Examination - 2020 Question Paper]
• English - Compulsory Subject [Civil Service (Main) Examination - 2021 Question Paper]
• UPSC English - Compulsory Subject [Civil Services (Main) Examination - 2022 Question Paper]
• English - Compulsory Subject (Civil Service (Main) Examination 2023 - Question Paper

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UPSC IAS 2024 Exam Important Dates

Notification Date 14 February 2024

Last Date to Apply 5th March, 2024 – 6.00 PM

CIVIL SERVICES (PRELIMINARY) EXAM 2024 16th June 2024

CIVIL SERVICES (MAIN) EXAM 2024 20th September 2024 Onwards

UPSC IAS 2020 Exam Important Dates

Notification Date --> 12th Feb, 2020 (WEDNESDAY) --> 3rd Mar, 2020 (TUESDAY) – 6.00pm --> 4th Oct, 2020 (SUNDAY) --> 8 January, 2021 (FRIDAY) -->