memorizing was far more than a means of storage. It was the first step in a process of synthesis, a process that led to a deeper and more understanding of one‘s reading. He believed, as the classical-historian Erika Rummel explains, that a person should "digest or internalize what he learns and reflect rather than slavishly reproduce the desirable qualities of the model author." Far from being a mechanical, mindless process, Erasmus‘s brand of memorization engaged the mind fully. It required, Rummel writes, "creativeness and judgment." (p. 179)