The way that Aladdin and his mother lacked the awareness of the valuable items around them reads as they are simple people and/or dumb. What is actually valuable? For me, I believe Aladdin and his mother were aware of what was most valuable: each other. Since their relationship does not have economic value, and their unawareness to the value of material things are them demonstrates their knowledge of the sentimental value. Aladdin and his mother value each other over material things. Western culture sees this and immediately views this value as a correlation between uneducated and poor. Aladdin and his mother did not need the novelty of silver dishes and fine meats to know the value of their relationship.

One of the hardest parts of being a HUST major is consuming the texts and finding ways to make them relevant in your life. Personally, I did not like Montaigne, but I really liked this quote from him. Finding relevance in his words was not hard here. Throughout my education, I have tried to look at the knowledge I've gained as a shaping force. Each time that I return home, my friends, family, and random acquaintances always say, "You've changed." I hope I've changed, at least grown for the better. Based on new information and experiences, my point of view has been broadened. I look back on mistakes that I have made and use them as learning experiences. When preparing my commonplace book, I knew I wanted each page to be perfect. No room for mistakes. Yet, I messed up on this page. As a result, a new lesson changed me... mistakes can be made and the world won't end.

Identity is not a choice. Keith Hamilton Cobb included," It was never a choice...But it was in me. It was me" in his adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello. In American Moor, KHC embodies the character of Othello as a modern American Black man. Keith Hamilton Cobb uses the inner dialogue about his own identity as an actor to demonstrate the amount of control that we have over our identity. Just as Othello could not control the color of his skin and how the Venetians reacted/treated him, we can not completely control our own identities. Therefore, KHC was encouraging his own authenticity. Why should we not be our authentic selves? Perhaps, I am speaking from a place of privilege, but I believe that by our authentic selves and embracing our uniqueness allows others to understand and appreciate the uniqueness of all individuals. After all, our identity is not our choice. We can not control the color of my skin, your skin, or the weather, so why should we act like we do? We should all live more like KHC because by being ourselves we set an example for others and teach others to embrace different life experiences. Maybe, I'm not educated enough on this issue, but these are my thoughts.

I began my college experience with "the Sister Madeleva quote" that inspired the name of this ePortfolio. Saint Mary's "promises you discovery of yourself, the world, and your place in it." This quote guided me through the uncertainty of the last four years. Moving almost a thousand miles away from home. The struggles of my first year. Living with four other women in less than 500square feet. Studying abroad. A pandemic. The unknown of the remainder of my senior year. As I begin to tie up my experience here at Saint Mary's, Tara Westover, knowingly or unknowingly, directly tied in education in the discovery process. The main reason I am at Saint Mary's is for an education. I forget this is the main reason I am here. The friends and experiences that I've built during my time here have been formidable, but so has my education. I am thankful for all of professors who have taught me and the educational experiences that Saint Mary's gave me. Because of this, I will always have discovery in learning.

Sending physical manuscripts for the critique of other writers is a modern practice. Apparently, Moore did not practice this with Utopia. Moore's letter to Peter Giles was eye opening. The letter exposed the vast brain space of early modern peoples. The effects of the printing press and nature of oral history allowed for "it [to be] enough for [Moore] to repeat verbatim" and Giles get the gist of Utopia before Moore finalized it. The aspect of dialogue allowed for Moore to make changes to Utopia in the moment. A quick turnaround instead of the weeks or months it would take to receive Giles' written notes. We think with all of our modern technology that we are so efficient, but what do we lose in the efficiency? Does modern technology limit authentic scholastic discussion?

As scholars with a historical focus, we are often searching for the meaning behind human practices. Symbolism is not always dense though. The practically of common placing actually shocked me upon reflection. In modern academia, accessibility is often not an issue. I almost never worry if I will be able to find a source again. Between Google and libraries, students have access to millions of texts in various mediums and languages. Students of the Early Modern era did not have this same luxury. The practice of common placing allowed students to carry their library in their back pocket. Honestly, their commonplace book served as their search engine. "404 page not found" would occur when the knowledge that they were searching for did not fill their ink soaked pages. Like my laptop, commonplace books were not water proof or accident proof, and an error could lead to a scholars life work being erased. We have the cloud now, but that's not always reliable. How do we make meaning of these practical scholarly diaries? During our class discussion, we talked about the role of common placing in exposing female authors. Common placing encouraged female writers of the Early Modern Period to "write what [they] want[ed]" while mirroring "the sum of expectations, textual practices and approaches to language" that their brothers had exposure to in their schooling (Horan and Smyth). As a result, common placing allowed female writers to sit at the table. The practical purpose of these books no longer act practically, but symbolically. Common placing served as a practical, but also as an equalizer for women of higher socio-economic status.

Squirrels. Thomas Hariot uses A Briefe and True Report to try to make sense of this "new world" that England and other European countries discovered. His writing makes me reflect on how I attempt to explain things to others- start with "the big picture and then narrow down."* What would be familiar to the English people of Hariot's audience? "Squirels." Odd, you might think, but the inclusion of squirrels is Hariot's attempt at subconsciously luring more English people to the new and failing English colony of Virginia. Merely stating,"We haue & eate," Hariot acknowledges that Virginia has plenty of food. A Briefe and True Report has pages of correctly named species, indicating an abundance. The usage of the flora and fauna to paint the picture of Virginia creates an interesting bridge into describing the peoples of Virginia. Naming matters here. Hariot and other Europeans call these peoples "Indians" whether though that mistake is derived from geographical ignorance. Hariot correctly names the flora and fauna of Virginia and he has the support of Sir Walter Raleigh, so he's knowledgable/credible... I have questions. Why call the Virginians "Indians"? It's familiar. The English people know India exists and that Indian culture is completely different from their own. The English didn't know that the Americas existed, and Native American cultures vary from nation to nation. Therefore, to Europeans, the Native Americans became the Indians. As a result of the dominant discourse, the correct name faded to the back. Our descriptions "are distinctive [to our] culture and history" and we must be mindful when explaining. We do not want to be the ones who shaped the culture so that an entire group of people are still referred to incorrectly after hundreds of years. And always question the factuality of articles that say they are "true."