Tuesday, July 28, 2009

GEOGRAPHY OPTIONAL

Geography has become a very popular optional for the Civil Service Exam. The scores have also been good enough and many became successful with this optional.

The main advantages of Geography as an optional are:

Availability of good material and guidance. There are many successful

candidates with this optional, which makes easy access to strategy required.

Geography is helpful for the GS prelims &mains, essay, interview and even for

some other optionals.

The map questions make it a very scoring subject.

There is enormous scope for innovations in writing which can boost the scores.

Students from science background find it easy to tune to this subject.

There are certain points, which should be kept in mind while preparing for

geography:

Read the basics well and then think on your own about how to make innovative

answers.

Because of availability of much material, there is a tendency to do a researchkind

of preparation. This is highly counter productive.

Prepare basics well with good clarity. You may refer the standard book for this.

Then if required just scan through other books for any different dimension. Do

not start mugging each and every book from end-to-end.

Take the topic, do intense questioning to get clarity. Then in a logical manner

prepare a structure for the notes.

Use lot of maps, diagrams, flow charts, graphs, etc. Be as innovative as

possible.

World Map: This question is highly scoring. The aspirant should spend good amount of time in mastering the world map. The examiner is only interested in testing the basics and important places. But some times very difficult map points are asked as done in 2003. But the preparation should not be based on that year’s question. In general, focus should be on preparing the basic points, which are more likely to be asked. If preparation is based on 2003 paper, then it is not possible to master all small and insignificant map points. Finally it will be counter productive, as there is a chance of forgetting even the basics.

While writing the 10 words, you need not put a sentence. Just put down as much

info as possible using “;”. Also, underline the most significant fact.

For example - Rekjavik: Iceland; capital city; northernmost capital; very cold climate;midnight sun; geological studies; Mid-Atlantic ridge;

India Map:

This question is highly scoring and the candidate should prepare well. Here also only the basics and important points are being asked. So, first analyse the previous

questions and prepare accordingly.

In writing the answer, try to put as much as you know.

Eg. Kaveri: Karnataka-Kerala-TN; Source-Talakaveri; Western Ghats; Delta in TN;

major river; highly used for irrigation; Inter-state river water dispute; Mettur dam;

Krishnasagar dam; Tiruchi; hydroelectricity; ……..

Suggested Reading:

Old NCERT books are better than the new ones for basic clarity. You should also go

through the new books for the latest data and analysis.

Savindra Singh- Geomorphology, Physical geography, Environmental

Geography

Majid Hussain- Physical geography, Human Geography, General Geography

and geography of India.

Climatology by Lal

Oceanography by Vattal

Rupa publications on Physical and human geography- vol 1&2

Regional geography - Rai Choudhary, Puri

India- Khullar

Certified physical and human geography- Goh Cheng Leong , its very good for

the basics.

Spectrum Geography guide- it is quite a good compilation with lots of

diagrams. It can be depended upon for many areas. Keep reading this for every

topic. The only problem is lack of clarity, otherwise it is a helpful source.

Urban geography- Ramachandran

Maps:

NCERT - prepare notes as you come across various points in the maps.

Atlas- Ttk, Orient Longman

REFERENCE BOOKS FOR PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION :

1. 6th to 12th NCERT Books for Geography.

2. Certificate of Physical Geography - Goh Cheng Leong.

3. Physical Geography -Savindra Singh

4.Physical Geography - Made simple series - Rupa Publications

5. Economic & Commercial Geography - Made Simple Series - Rupa Publications.

6. Human and Economic Geography - Leong & Norgan

7. Human Geography - Majid Hussain.

8. Geographical thoughts - Majid Hussain.

9. Field Work - 11 th NCERT.

10. Cartography - R.L. Singh

11. Geography of India - Gopal Singh

12. Economic & Commercial Geography of India - C.B. Memoria

13. Orient longman - Atlas.

14. TTK - Atlas

15. Dictionary of Geography - Penguin

16. Spectrum guide for Geography.

17. Siddhartha - Preliminary Question Bank.

18. Geography Guide - Narmadeshwar Prasad.

REFERENCE BOOKS FOR MAINS EXAMINATION :

Paper - I

Physical geography - Savinder Singh

The Earth's dynamic surface - K. Sidhartha

Physical geography - Strahler & Strahler

Climatology - D.S. Lal

Physical geography made simple - Rupa

Oceanography - Sharma & Vital

Biogeography - Savinder Singh

Evolution of geographical thoughts - Majid Hussain and Adhikari

Economic geography - K. Sidhartha

Economic and social geography made simple - Rupa

Urban geography - K. Sidhartha

Human geography - Majid Hussain

Geography of population - R.C. Chandra

Regional Planning in India - hand & Puri

Political geography - Dixit

Paper - II

Physical environment - NCERT

NCERT Class XII

India: Physical aspects - K Sidhartha

Geography of India - Mamoria

Agricultural geography - Majid Hussain

Agricultural problems in India - Sadhu and Singh

Economic & Commercial geography of India - Mamoria

India's urbanisation and urban systems - R. Ramachandran

Regional planning in India - Chand and Puri

Political geography - Dixit

India: political aspects - K. Sidhartha

REFERENCE BOOKS OVERALL :

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

NCERT Vol -1

Physical Geography - Bunnett

Certificate physical and human geography - Goh, Cheng Leong

Physical Geography made simple

HUMAN AND ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

Human and Economic Geography - NCERT

Economic Geography, Economic and Social Geography made simple

Penguim masters studies on geography

The Cultural Landscape - Rubeistein

INDIAN GEOGRAPHY

Indian geography - Rammorthy Gopalakrishnan

Physical geography of India - S.M. Mathur

General geography - NCERT

Mineral of India - NBT (Wadia)

Resources and regional development - NCERT

Catography - R.L. Singh

World regional geography - Fellnan

Work book - K. Siddhartha and S. Mukherjee

Question Bank - Surendra Singh, 1000

Geography quiz - Muthiah

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