Chapter Nine-How To Master Thematic Apperception Test
In this chapter there are steps given using which you can develop your skills in Thematic Apperception Test in a significant manner.
Chapter 9: How To Develop Skills For Thematic Apperception Test
In this chapter we will see what you can do to develop your own skill of writing a story nicely. I’ll give you tips and I’ll help you understand methods which I use in my own classroom to train candidates. Let us get started.
1) The first thing you should do is take an image which belongs to one of our SSBs. Please don’t take an image which belongs to the SSB or selection process of a western country. There are a lot of images floating on the Internet which are not of our country’s boards and hence it won’t be of any meaning to practice your Thematic Apperception Test development skills on that. So, ensure that it belongs to our SSB. After this what you should do is that you should first study the image properly and specifically try to study it on the three parameters about which I have discussed already in the previous chapters. The three parameters are figure, background, and stimulus.
2) Try to study the human beings in the image. See whatever you can understand about them. After this try to check the background. See what the stimulus is pointing towards in terms of what should be the theme of the story.
3) Once you are done with that, then you have to do a lot of homework. In my class every day, what I do is I give them one image for homework and I give them a free hand. They are supposed to write a story in their free time as homework and submit it the next day. After this, in the next day’s class we discuss whether it is a good story or not or what are the key plus points and minus points of the story they have written and submitted. This way I am able to ensure that every single day they gain refinement in their approach to the Thematic Apperception Test and their stories become better with each passing day. At this stage, I do not allow or advise candidates to write a story in a time bound manner as that will be counterproductive and will lay a very weak foundation for their SSB preparation. At least
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during the first 2-3 weeks, I encourage the candidates to give ample time to writing one single story. This ensures that their skill and understanding about Thematic Apperception Test develops in an in-depth manner. I will encourage you to do the same.
4) You should take an image, study it carefully and then start doing homework. First you have to do a lot of homework. So how should the homework start? The first thing you should do is try to see if you can bring the theme along with the central character of the story in the first sentence itself. Try to see what is the theme visible in the image and whether it can be brought in the first sentence itself along with the central character. You will easily be able to introduce the central character and the theme in the first sentence itself. In almost all the stories, bringing the theme in the first sentence is where the challenge is and you have to give it some time. This skill doesn’t develop overnight. This kind of nag, the style of writing doesn’t develop overnight. Once you practice it for a while, you will be able to do this with almost every image instantly in a very easy manner. So, it is strongly advised and recommended that you give it time and be patient and persistent.
Let us say you are putting in a lot of thought behind it and still not succeeding. You are thinking again and again and still you are not able to bring in the theme in the first sentence. In that case, see if you can bring it in the second sentence. If you are still not able to do it after a lot of thinking, see if you can bring it in the third sentence. There are very few images in which you will not be able to bring the theme along with the central character in the very first or second sentence. Those are exceptional images.
5) The next thing after introducing the theme and the central character in the first sentence is that you should make a list, a rough list, of those steps which you will be required to take to address that theme.
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Let us say you want to celebrate your mother’s birthday. So, what are the steps you will take in day-to-day life to celebrate your mother’s birthday? Make a list of those steps. Make sure that the steps are realistic. Realistic steps means that the steps should be such that any ordinary human being should be able to take them in day-to-day life. For instance, if you want to celebrate your mother’s birthday you might be taking the following steps: You will make a list of guests, you will decide what is to be on the menu, you will send out invitations to the guests, you will bring in items to decorate the house, you will send out invitations, you will bring a gift, you will decorate the house, you will make sitting arrangement for the guests. These kinds of steps will form your rough list.
6) Once you feel you have adequate number of realistic steps, then put them in the correct sequence. You have to ensure that those steps are realistic and then put them in correct sequence. You have to constantly reevaluate the steps. First, the steps should be realistic and second, they should be in correct sequence. Third, there should be no link missing.
In the initial 2-3 weeks candidates make a lot of mistakes regarding the steps. Sometimes the steps are not realistic. Sometimes the steps are not in correct sequence. Sometimes there are links missing in the steps. These kinds of mistakes happen a lot during the first 2-3 weeks. When candidates come to me, at least for the first 10 to 15 days, they are making a lot of mistakes in getting the steps related element right in the story. Every candidate goes through this. It is a part of learning. So, do not get discouraged or demotivated if you too go through this during the initial phase of learning.
7) Then in the end, in the last two or three sentences, you conclude the story. Once you are done with this, then transfer it into fair and that is how you should develop your own skill of writing a story.
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8) The next thing you should do is practise with variety of images. There are images on different themes. There are images on different factors which I’ve already explained earlier. Every image belongs to one particular factor. So, practise variety of images. Only then you will be able to get a good hand at Thematic Apperception Test.
9) After you have practised on a daily basis at least for 2-3 weeks you can consider starting time bound practise depending on how good you have become at writing stories. When you start time bound practise, you should only do only 1 set of just 2-3 images. For the first few days just do 1 set of 2-3 images daily and evaluate your performance. If you feel you have become good at Thematic Apperception Test and can write good stories comfortably in a time bound manner then try your hand at 8 images in a time bound manner. Slow and steady progress will give good result. This is how you will be able to develop your own style of writing a good story.
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