ENG1501
Assignment 1
DUE: 17 APRIL 2026
, ENG1501 – ASSIGNMENT 01
Poem: Memory by Christopher van Wyk
Due Date: 17 April 2026
SECTION A: REFLECTION – POETRY (UNIT 2)
Paragraph 1: Introduction and First Response
The poem I have chosen is "In Detention" by Christopher van Wyk, a South African poet
(1957–2014) who is widely recognised for his politically conscious and humanist writing.
I selected this poem because it stood apart from the others on the prescribed list due to
its deeply ironic and darkly repetitive structure. Van Wyk uses the poem to expose the
suspicious deaths of Black political prisoners during the apartheid era, and my first
reaction was a mixture of shock and dark amusement, which itself left me feeling
uncomfortable. What surprised me most was how the poem uses absurdly bureaucratic
language to describe deaths that were clearly brutal – the gap between the cold official
phrasing and the reality of the violence creates a disturbing, almost satirical tone that I
did not expect from a poem about such serious subject matter. I was initially confused
about whether the poem was meant to be taken seriously or as dark humour, and it was
only on a second reading that I understood van Wyk was using humour as a weapon
against injustice.
Paragraph 2: Two Poetic Devices
Two poetic devices from Unit 2 of TL501 that are clearly at work in "In Detention" are
repetition and irony. TL501 explains that repetition involves "the deliberate recurrence
of words, phrases, or structures" and that it is used to create emphasis and rhythm
(TL501, p. 45). In "In Detention," van Wyk repeats the phrase "He fell from the ninth
floor" and variations like "He slipped on a piece of soap while washing" throughout the
poem, each time offering a new and increasingly absurd explanation for a prisoner's
Assignment 1
DUE: 17 APRIL 2026
, ENG1501 – ASSIGNMENT 01
Poem: Memory by Christopher van Wyk
Due Date: 17 April 2026
SECTION A: REFLECTION – POETRY (UNIT 2)
Paragraph 1: Introduction and First Response
The poem I have chosen is "In Detention" by Christopher van Wyk, a South African poet
(1957–2014) who is widely recognised for his politically conscious and humanist writing.
I selected this poem because it stood apart from the others on the prescribed list due to
its deeply ironic and darkly repetitive structure. Van Wyk uses the poem to expose the
suspicious deaths of Black political prisoners during the apartheid era, and my first
reaction was a mixture of shock and dark amusement, which itself left me feeling
uncomfortable. What surprised me most was how the poem uses absurdly bureaucratic
language to describe deaths that were clearly brutal – the gap between the cold official
phrasing and the reality of the violence creates a disturbing, almost satirical tone that I
did not expect from a poem about such serious subject matter. I was initially confused
about whether the poem was meant to be taken seriously or as dark humour, and it was
only on a second reading that I understood van Wyk was using humour as a weapon
against injustice.
Paragraph 2: Two Poetic Devices
Two poetic devices from Unit 2 of TL501 that are clearly at work in "In Detention" are
repetition and irony. TL501 explains that repetition involves "the deliberate recurrence
of words, phrases, or structures" and that it is used to create emphasis and rhythm
(TL501, p. 45). In "In Detention," van Wyk repeats the phrase "He fell from the ninth
floor" and variations like "He slipped on a piece of soap while washing" throughout the
poem, each time offering a new and increasingly absurd explanation for a prisoner's
