What is your daily need for the items in your bag? 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?
Welcome to the contents of my life in this bag. It contains an accurate depiction of what consumes my life now as a mom to a toddler and newborn, which consists of a cycle of feeding, diaper changes and appointments. Not surprisingly, the bag is filled with items mostly belonging to my two children: my 2 ½ year old, Madeline and 1 month old, Adelaide. The most obvious texts are the two picture books that I keep to entertain the kids during our rare outings. Barnyard Dance is one of Madeline’s favourite books as she is learning about the natural rhythm of words and enjoys following along with the animal sounds, whereas the other Look, Look a black and white book is appropriate and easier to see for Adelaide’s developing eyesight. Another text is the Starbucks symbol on the gift card that is for my emergency use on days I need an extra caffeine boost or for Saturday mornings when I take Madeline to soccer lessons. Notably are certain brands of items like the Pampers and Lysol wipes or Bath&Body Works hand sanitizer with their distinctive designs- all of which are remnants of our pandemic lifestyle and desire to disinfect. The classic “immunization records” log has not changed throughout the years to document all the vaccinations (a term itself which could now be considered controversial depending which side of the fence you sit on).
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? What do the items in your bag say about the literacies you have? How does the narrative of the (private) contents of your bag compare with the narrative produced by image you have of yourself or the image you outwardly project?
Other than my iPhone (used to capture this photo) that would also be in the bag, there are few text technologies. Possibly more exciting and revealing in character would be my “digital bag”. My top three apps that I use daily, aside from Messaging and Whatsapp, are Instagram, Huckleberry and Our Daily Bread. I often lose track of time scrolling through Instagram to gain insights on anything parenting related; from advice to raising a happy, healthy toddler to car seat safety instructions, there are so many child focused accounts to follow. Huckleberry is an app that helps me keep track of my feeding, pumping, sleeping schedule and all things growth related for Adelaide. Finally, I read a short daily devotional on Our Daily Bread and share my thoughts with my dad and sister via email. Most of these apps are used for consumption of knowledge by reading or viewing the content. All of these apps are viewed in English, my primary language. Being brought up as a second-generation Chinese born Canadian, my parents spoke Cantonese growing up and I attended Chinese school for 6 years. Despite these efforts to remain true to my Chinese heritage, I was fully immersed in the English language (with a sprinkling of French for 4 years) and can only listen and understand Cantonese with limited ability to communicate. Side story on linguistic differences: On a trip to Hong Kong to visit my grandmother, I was trying to communicate with her in Cantonese. She kept offering me food after a giant meal. I wanted to tell her I was full so I directly translated “full stomach” to “dai to” which actually means pregnant! My partner, after laughing hysterically, quickly corrected my error. I now wish that I was bilingual, being able to write and read Cantonese fluently. I hope to provide these opportunities to my own children and share with them the value of learning new languages to gain a different perspective on life.
What would this same bag have looked like, say, 15 or 25 years ago? How do you imagine an archeologist aiming to understand this temporal period might view the contents of your bag many years in the future?
Had this task been assigned 2 months ago, my bag would look very different. It would be my work bag containing my laptop and agenda (Call me old school, I’ve always liked to have a hard copy to write down my schedule) that I would take to my work as an elementary school teacher. Rewind two years ago, pre-pandemic and pre-kids, I would have my gym bag with my workout gear and latest workout app. An archeologist scouring through my bag in the future may wonder what diapers are (I sure hope they become a thing of the past because it contributes to so much waste) or choose to put the board books into a museum as print may become a thing of the past (this I hope does not happen because I love reading physical books rather than on a device). Really, for such small human beings, they require so many things!