Colonialism and Imperialism have left an indelible impact on our world that cannot be denied, and should not be ignored. In Kingdom Hearts 3’s case, though an allusion to the Biblical story of Saul’s religious conversion into Paul is pretty harmless - since it’s ultimately intended that the use of “damascus” is just supposed to mean “change,” or more specifically “upgrade,” and isn’t being used here to unduly proselytize - it is worth the investigation into how such a term could find its way into such a game.

1. Analysis: Can you think of a text - show, novel, comic, film, etc. - that ever stuck out to you because of an allusion made that surprised you? Or, have you ever heard someone make an allusion to a text (even if it’s just quoting the text - “Hello sweetie”), and been surprised but delighted by it? Why were you surprised? What caught you off guard?

2. Composition: Oftentimes, allusions can be a grounding rod for understanding an idea. It’s not uncommon to use allusions to people or events in a classroom or discussion in order lay the groundwork for deeper intellectual work (ie. Hamlet is Lion King but with humans, but also slightly more. Let’s start with the similarities, move to the differences, and work up from there; Phantom of the Opera is Beauty and the Beast, but the Beast doesn’t get the girl because MURDER). Imagine you’re explaining a text you like to someone who has NO IDEA what the heck you’re talking about. Choose someone you know fairly well - that’ll make this easier. What texts could you allude to, that both of you would know, in order to explain this other text to them in a way where they’d get (hopefully more than just) the basic concept?