How to Ace Anthropology Optional: Book list and Basic Plan
Marksheet
Book List
These are the sources I referred to for my Anthropology
optional. 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. Apart from these, use online sources and newspapers to enrich your
knowledge and answer content.
Paper I
1.
Braintree
material
2.
Physical
Anthropology – P Nath
3.
Anthropology
Simplified – Vivek Bhasme (very good source for diagrams and answer
structuring)
4.
Anthropology
– Ember and Ember
Paper II
1.
Indian
Anthropology -Nadeem Hasnain
2.
Tribal
India – Nadeem Hasnain
3.
Anthropology
Simplified- Vivek Bhasme
4.
The
Tribal Culture of India – LP Vidyarthi
5.
Xaxa
Report
6.
January
2014 edition of Yojana- Tribal and Marginalized Communities
Note on diagrams and answer
writing
While preparing for CSE
2017, because of my hectic work schedule I was hard pressed to just finish the
syllabus in the limited time I had. Because of this time crunch, I could
neither make any topic-wise notes nor opt for any test series. I learnt how to
write good answers from the book Anthropology Simplified by
Vivek Bhasme. Most of the diagrams I practised too were from this book.
Online Resources for Paper I
and II
1.
Khan
Academy – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gUY5NoX1Lk
2.
Anthropological
Theories: http://anthropology.ua.edu/cultures/cultures.php
3.
Genetics: http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/
4.
Anthropological
Survey of India: https://ansi.gov.in/
5.
Ministry
of Tribal Affairs: https://tribal.nic.in/
6.
Tribal
faces of India- https://tribal.nic.in/DivisionsFiles/tribalFaces.pdf
7.
Govt.
schemes and tribal related news reported in newspapers
8.
Diagrams related
to anthropology: I practised many diagrams from the notes of Kirthi Chekuri
(AIR 14, CSE 2015) published in this Insights article
Books for general reading
The following books have absolutely no bearing on Anthropology
optional preparation. But for a curious student of this subject, these books
are incredibly fascinating to read. Much ahead of me choosing Anthropology as
my optional, it’s these books that got me deeply interested in the fields of evolutionary
biology and genetics. Pick them up in your leisure time and I hope you enjoy
reading them as much as I did.
1.
Sapiens
– Yuval Noah Harari
2.
The
Selfish Gene- Richard Dawkins
3.
The
Blind Watchmaker- Richard Dawkins
4.
The
Gene- Siddhartha Mukherjee
Basic Plan
While you refer to the aforementioned booklist, these are some
of the tips you should keep in mind.
1.
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.
2.
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.
3.
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.
4.
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.
5.
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.
6.
Attempt
as many Physical Anthropology questions as possible. They are largely static
with immense scope for diagrams. You shouldn’t go wrong on those.
7.
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.
8.
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. Examples: a. 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.
9.
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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
