Task 1: What’s in your bag?

Brown (2018) mentions a “BAG allows the viewer a glimpse into the private world of another individual, revealing aspects of this person’s organizational habits, vanities, occupations and preoccupation.” The private contents of my bag align well with the image I portray. The bag that I have chosen is a purse that contains many items I use almost every day.

The items in my bag are my daily necessities and the reasons I carry them around are provided below.

• Hand sanitizer (baby BUM brand), vaccine card, and face masks
  • As we are currently living in the COVID-19 pandemic, these items are required for my personal safety and to enter various shops.
• Wallet
  • It helps me to complete my purchases.
• Car keys
  • They assist me in getting to work, picking up and dropping off my daughter at school, and taking her to her extracurricular activities.
• Gym pass
  • It allows me to enter the gym, to work out individually and with my personal trainer.
• Phone
  • It is used mainly in communicating with my family and friends through phone calls, WhatsApp (video calls and messages) and text messages. I also use my phone to check e-mails and use social media (Facebook and Instagram). Furthermore, it allows me to remember old memories and view pictures and videos of my daughters when I am missing them at work.

Extra items in my bag that have a sentimental value or explain my identity are listed below.

• Rakhi money
  • An item that provides a window into my Indian culture is the pink envelope with money inside it. It represents a festival in Hindu culture called Rakhi where a sister ties a decorated thread around their brother. This thread symbolizes that the sisters will protect their brothers. The sister feeds a dessert to their brother and receives a present, which is typically money. This festival celebrates love and brotherhood. I still have held onto this money in my purse as I have not purchased anything yet with it.
• Camp receipt
  • I have held onto this receipt as it is one of the highlights from Arya’s (my daughter’s) summer this year. She enjoyed all the activities at camp and made new friendships there. It also reminded me of her capabilities as an independent and responsible individual. As Arya went on her first field trip here, I am very proud of her behavior that day as she is a strong-willed child. As my family is an important part of me, I have chosen to hold onto this receipt as a memory.
• Aquabus ticket
  • This ticket reminds me of the fun memories I had with both of my daughters traveling around the Granville Island area this summer. I still have some extra tickets for our next adventure there.
• Vegan pie
  • As vegan is written on the box of pie, it provides a window into the lifestyle I have adopted which is following a plant-based diet. It also shares one place I shop at called CHOICES, which is shown on the pie label. I have artificially added the pie to my bag as I love desserts. From my childhood, sweets have always been an important part of who I am. For more information regarding my identity, please click on the following link https://blogs.ubc.ca/etec540anu/sample-page/ .

Text & Text Technology

Traces of literacy are present in print form and digitally. Text is defined from the Oxford dictionary as the “wording of anything written or printed” (Oxford University Press, 2021). Items, where texts are digitally printed on their label are listed below.

• Advil
• Hand sanitizer
• Magee Secondary keychain
• Vegan
• Good Life fitness tag
• Receipts (which I omitted from this picture)
• Saje lip gloss
• Kate Spade wallet
• Audi symbol on car keys
• Aquabus tickets
• Text is visible on cards within my wallet ( driver’s license, credit cards, bank cards, cash, Costco membership, and children’s health cards).

From the 2.1 module within ETEC 540, a comparison by Neil Postman is shared where language is explained as a technology. In this sense, I would view my phone and my credit cards as text technologies. My phone is a technological tool where I share my language through written words and orally. Contrarily, my cards have a digital language where their language is digitally and electronically read when they are used.

Literacy & Culture

Items from my bag, for instance, credit cards, bank cards, receipts (which I omitted from the picture), and cash provide a glimpse into my financial literacy. Additionally, the Costco membership and brands on physical items I have in my bag provide insight into my shopping culture. The aquabus ticket explains how I travel leisurely. The gym membership provides insight into the gym culture I partake in. The experience of the gym culture represents the importance of health and fitness in my lifestyle and depicts my health literacy.

The past and the future

This bag would look very different 15 years ago as I was a student then and I had different responsibilities. A few things would be similar, for instance, a sweet item (candy), house keys, car keys, and a cell phone. The cell phone would be an older model which would be limited to communication by phone calls and text messages only. My purse would also contain my iPod which I would use to listen to music from my playlists. Now I can use my phone to play music from playlists using the Spotify app or from YouTube.

An archaeologist in the future would view the contents of my bag and may conclude that I value fitness, due to the gym membership, and that I am responsible for two girls (from the camp receipt and health cards). They may believe I worked or studied at Magee Secondary, as I have a separate keychain for it which has Magee Secondary written on it.

I have attached a picture of my daughters, just in case you are curious how they look like!

References

Brown, E. (2018). Ellie Brown Photography and Artworks Ellie Brown Photography and Artworks. Retrieved July 12, 2019, from Ellie Brown Photography and Artworks website:http://www.elliebrown.com/

Oxford University Press. (2021). Text. Retrieved Sept 15, 2021, from https://www-oed-com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/search?searchType=dictionary&q=text&_searchBtn=Search