Task 1: What’s In Your Bag?
Based on photographer Ellie Brown’s BAG project that “explores the duality between the way people characterize themselves in public, and the private contents of their handbags” (Brown, 2018).
I created a video explaining the various items in my work tote and have reflected a little further in relation to Scholes’ (1992) descriptions of the word “text” and “technology”.
How might these items be considered “texts” and what do they say about you, the places you inhabit, the cultures with which you engage, and/or the activities you take up?
I think it shows my general nature to be prepared; both in personality and profession. There is a common thread of “creating”. As Scholes described, “ that technology is very closely related to text: the tekton (craftsman) is one who is well-versed in a technique (art or skill), while techne carries both the root and the sense of the word technology, being of or relating to an art or craft”(1992). These items are the various ways I craft within my skillset as both educator and student.
Thinking about the title of the course, what are the “text technologies” in your bag, if any? What do these items say about how you engage with language and communication?
They are often tools for me to craft and communicate for work and school; The pens as ways to mark student work and make notes for readings, the sticky notes to list out and plan for work and make note down and emphasize important pages for school, and the several masks to create protection for myself and communicate to others my level of comfort in being around them.
What do the items in your bag say about the literacies you have?
I think it indicates my reading and writing literacy; as a teacher and a graduate student. Showing that I’m prepared for various situations and am committed to maintaining and improving my skills in them. It also demonstrates my digital literacy; having my IT brother show and share with me useful tools has helped with various aspects of my day. For example, having extra phone chargers and cables have been practical not just for my personal needs, but for other educational tools; such as charging the microphone I used while teaching, with a mask on.
What would this same bag have looked like, say, 15 or 25 years ago?
I think I had some variation of this same “bag” in my teenage years. I was also one to have an extra set of a tool ready. However, as I have grown older, people have given me various items, such as the small zipper purses, that I have found use for. While this does show my slight inability to give things up or away, I feel it has been used practically. With age has also come with the means to “fill” my bag with items that I did not or could not previously attain, in my teenage years – such as the extra chargers; I did not have them at my disposal due to means, general advancement of the technology. It was not as popular to have a smart phone when I was a teenager, and therefore no need to charge it at a moments notice.
How do you imagine an archeologist aiming to understand this temporal period might view the contents of your bag many years in the future?
I imagine an archeologist would wonder why this person had so many items. While there are a few items that might indicate my profession, such as my work keys that have keychains saying “Miss Guevara” with books and an apple – commonly accepted symbols of a teacher – I think they might view it as a person prepared for school. Which, is not completely off base from my profession; I do still go to school!
References
Scholes, R. (1992). Canonicity and Textuality. Introduction to Scholarship in Modern Languages and Literature, 2nd edition, 138–158.
Hello Clarrisa, I enjoyed your openness and choice of medium to convey what is in your bag. I think you have given me ideas about what I should include in my bag, such as break mints to revitalize our throats after engaging with students. Your video would be a great TikTok video.
Cheers,
Susana