CAT 2021 Slot 3 — VARC Question 23
Four sentences that are a part of paragraph are given below; the sentences may or may not be in the right order; create the sequence that forms a coherent paragraph.
- It is regimes of truth that make certain relationships speakable - relationships, like subjectivities, are constituted through discursive formations, which sustain regimes of truth.
- Relationships are nothing without the communication that brings them into being; interpersonal communication is connected to knowledge shared by interlocutors, and scholars should attend to relational histories in their analyses.
- A Foucauldian approach to relationships goes beyond these conceptions of discourse and history to macro level regimes of truth as constituting relationships.
- Reconsidering micropractices within relationships that are constituted within and simultaneously contributors to regimes of truth acknowledges the central position of power/knowledge in the constitution of what has come to be considered true and real.
Answer & solution
Answer: 2314
Easy
A para-jumble on a dense, abstract topic (a Foucauldian view of relationships). With few surface clues, lean on referring expressions: "these conceptions," "goes beyond," and "regimes of truth" tie the sentences together.
Opener = (2). Sentence 2 states the baseline conceptions: relationships are nothing without communication, interpersonal communication is tied to shared knowledge, and scholars should attend to "relational histories." It defines the conventional view that the rest will build on.
2 → 3 (the key link). Sentence 3 says "A Foucauldian approach to relationships goes beyond these conceptions of discourse and history..." — "these conceptions" must refer to the communication-and-relational-histories ideas just laid out in 2. So 23 is a mandatory pair.
3 → 1. Sentence 3 introduces "macro level regimes of truth as constituting relationships." Sentence 1 then elaborates exactly that: "It is regimes of truth that make certain relationships speakable... discursive formations, which sustain regimes of truth." 1 explains the term 3 just raised, so 31 is continuous.
Closer = (4). Sentence 4 draws the conclusion: reconsidering micropractices "constituted within and simultaneously contributors to regimes of truth" acknowledges "the central position of power/knowledge." It synthesises the regimes-of-truth idea and closes the paragraph. Final order: 2 → 3 → 1 → 4.
The coherent sequence is 2314.