Essay 2 - Fiction and the Fallible Memory / Detention Memoir /
Black Aquatic
Course : ELL2001S
Topic: Detention memoir
Essay question:
OPTION 3 - Detention Memoir
Under “interrogation”: the challenges and possibilities of “confessional” writing
In prison writing, the idea of “confession” is particularly anxiety-inducing, given
the threatening experience of interrogation itself and the sense of threat that
infuses the public sphere under a repressive regime such as 1960s apartheid
South Africa: the reader can’t necessarily be assumed to be an ally. However, this
sense of the narrator being under a kind of interrogation by an imagined reader
is also potentially enabling of the unfolding memoir.
In a detention memoir the peril surrounding the confessional, revelatory work of
the “I” is acute. In what ways do you see Ruth First opening up to her reader as a
kind of “confessor”, of sorts? Where do you see the voice of the narrator establish
a sense of intimacy and openness, on the one hand, and where do you see
evidence of the risk involved and the need for protective work that self-
revelation also calls for, on the other hand? Based on your reading of the text,
comment on how First manages this risk, if at all, as she crafts her narrative and
reflect on the challenges and the possibilities associated with the “confessional”
nature of memoir.
Take care to comment on specific details in the text, rather than writing about
the issues in general terms, at a remove.
Feedback:
This is a very bold and well argued essay. You make some very interesting points about
the text, and I like that you are using secondary sources to construct arguments. That
being said, you did not use the source effectively. At no point did you explore what it is
that Roux is arguing. You also did not explore how Roux's points relate to your own.
Simply, I am unsure whether you agree or disagree with Roux's article. I am also unsure
what the article was about. These are small, but very necessary steps that you need to
take if you want to use these sources in your own arguments. You cannot just add
another writers points to the end of your own. You need to draw a line between their
point and your own, otherwise how will I know what you think about them? Please do
keep this in mind in the future.
Otherwise, this is a very good piece. Well done.
Mark – 68%
, How does Ruth first’s confession aid in bridging the gap between the black and white
community?
Ruth First's prison memoir aids in sculpting her "into a model for post-apartheid
subjectivity", framing her alongside other freedom fighters in South Africa (Daniel roux 22).
This novel not only marks the struggles of Ruth First, a white woman in a predominantly
white apartheid regime, but also marks the unity between the black and white community and
how this inter racial divide is being breached in an attempt to disobey the apartheid regime.
This essay will pay reference to Daniel Roux’s article on recording solitary confinement in
apartheid prison to grapple with the significance and nature of Ruth’s confession and how it
is a representation of unity, strive and acceptance.
First, being a white woman, makes a brave decision on writing a detention memoir
embodying her struggle during the apartheid regime owing to the fact that not many white
people struggled during this time and those who were arrested did not all support the anti-
apartheid movement. This novel embodies the unity between the black and white community
and how this inter racial divide is breached in an attempt to reach racial freedom and equality.
Ruth stands at the forefront of this movement, putting her life at risk to maintain the integrity
of the organization. This is evident owing to her endurance of the torture and success in
retaining the structure of her metaphorical armour. “They had tried for three months to find
cracks in my armour and had found some”, however she had not given in. Others with her
had given in however she persevered on and retained the information only she knew (First
129). This is symbolic for her true devotion toward the anti-apartheid regime, being ready to
go to extreme extents for its survival. This unity between the black and white race is further
represented during Ruth’s encounters with her black inmates and how “Several of them
would generally catch sight of me staring at them through the grille of the bathroom and point
me out to the others, and we would make gestures to one another across the yard” (70). These
gestures show the unspoken unity between two different racial casts. The gestures depict the
sense of understanding despite being at a distance. If the women felt Ruth was not on their
side they would have never engaged in making gestures to her, this points to the sense of
acceptance, unity and solidarity.
First portrays herself as a diverse character that can easily fit the mould of two distinct
personalities: a vulnerable individual and a strong-willed person, as a way to open up to the
Black Aquatic
Course : ELL2001S
Topic: Detention memoir
Essay question:
OPTION 3 - Detention Memoir
Under “interrogation”: the challenges and possibilities of “confessional” writing
In prison writing, the idea of “confession” is particularly anxiety-inducing, given
the threatening experience of interrogation itself and the sense of threat that
infuses the public sphere under a repressive regime such as 1960s apartheid
South Africa: the reader can’t necessarily be assumed to be an ally. However, this
sense of the narrator being under a kind of interrogation by an imagined reader
is also potentially enabling of the unfolding memoir.
In a detention memoir the peril surrounding the confessional, revelatory work of
the “I” is acute. In what ways do you see Ruth First opening up to her reader as a
kind of “confessor”, of sorts? Where do you see the voice of the narrator establish
a sense of intimacy and openness, on the one hand, and where do you see
evidence of the risk involved and the need for protective work that self-
revelation also calls for, on the other hand? Based on your reading of the text,
comment on how First manages this risk, if at all, as she crafts her narrative and
reflect on the challenges and the possibilities associated with the “confessional”
nature of memoir.
Take care to comment on specific details in the text, rather than writing about
the issues in general terms, at a remove.
Feedback:
This is a very bold and well argued essay. You make some very interesting points about
the text, and I like that you are using secondary sources to construct arguments. That
being said, you did not use the source effectively. At no point did you explore what it is
that Roux is arguing. You also did not explore how Roux's points relate to your own.
Simply, I am unsure whether you agree or disagree with Roux's article. I am also unsure
what the article was about. These are small, but very necessary steps that you need to
take if you want to use these sources in your own arguments. You cannot just add
another writers points to the end of your own. You need to draw a line between their
point and your own, otherwise how will I know what you think about them? Please do
keep this in mind in the future.
Otherwise, this is a very good piece. Well done.
Mark – 68%
, How does Ruth first’s confession aid in bridging the gap between the black and white
community?
Ruth First's prison memoir aids in sculpting her "into a model for post-apartheid
subjectivity", framing her alongside other freedom fighters in South Africa (Daniel roux 22).
This novel not only marks the struggles of Ruth First, a white woman in a predominantly
white apartheid regime, but also marks the unity between the black and white community and
how this inter racial divide is being breached in an attempt to disobey the apartheid regime.
This essay will pay reference to Daniel Roux’s article on recording solitary confinement in
apartheid prison to grapple with the significance and nature of Ruth’s confession and how it
is a representation of unity, strive and acceptance.
First, being a white woman, makes a brave decision on writing a detention memoir
embodying her struggle during the apartheid regime owing to the fact that not many white
people struggled during this time and those who were arrested did not all support the anti-
apartheid movement. This novel embodies the unity between the black and white community
and how this inter racial divide is breached in an attempt to reach racial freedom and equality.
Ruth stands at the forefront of this movement, putting her life at risk to maintain the integrity
of the organization. This is evident owing to her endurance of the torture and success in
retaining the structure of her metaphorical armour. “They had tried for three months to find
cracks in my armour and had found some”, however she had not given in. Others with her
had given in however she persevered on and retained the information only she knew (First
129). This is symbolic for her true devotion toward the anti-apartheid regime, being ready to
go to extreme extents for its survival. This unity between the black and white race is further
represented during Ruth’s encounters with her black inmates and how “Several of them
would generally catch sight of me staring at them through the grille of the bathroom and point
me out to the others, and we would make gestures to one another across the yard” (70). These
gestures show the unspoken unity between two different racial casts. The gestures depict the
sense of understanding despite being at a distance. If the women felt Ruth was not on their
side they would have never engaged in making gestures to her, this points to the sense of
acceptance, unity and solidarity.
First portrays herself as a diverse character that can easily fit the mould of two distinct
personalities: a vulnerable individual and a strong-willed person, as a way to open up to the
