Impeding Imagism: The Structure of no Structuers

     by Royce Le

  Limitations, expectations, and abstractions—why be tied down to that from of literature writing when you can buy the era of sharp, clear-cut images and langue usage here? Before you buy and indulge yourself in this era, take a look into what Imagism really is and why you should invest in it.
       Imagism was essentially the dance of words and images through literature and art in the 20th-century (originating around 1912 and ending near 2000).   Having a defined theme of clear and sharp images, poets during the 20th-centry were aiming at make their work have the most clarity and transparency as possible. Major writers in this time period who exemplify this theme and movement were essentially called Imagists. Imagists researched and studied French symbolists who were practicing and experimenting with free verse (vers libre), which was a representation of normal speaking habits rather than structural lines and stanzas of poems. Amy Lowell, Richard Aldington, John Gould Fletcher, Erza Pound, and Hilda Doolittle were some of the few but important authors who were representative of this movement. The pieces that were apparent were Images of War written by Richard Aldington in which he painted a gruesome picture of how war made him cynical, desperate, and bitter. The impact of this piece really stemmed from the intensity of his words and Aldington’s skill to make readers feel and empathize with his emotions, thus to inflect readers with thoughts and emotions about the war that they never thought they would have. Another piece that had significant impact during this time period was Goblins and Pagodas by John Gould Fletcher in which he set the foundation for linking colors and music to emotions. Examples are how orange was a connection to war and blue depicts sadness. Overall, Imagism was really stemmed from the free verse and the borrowing of ideas from the French, British, and Asian cultures that were apparent in the Modernist era. We can see today that the impacts and the influence of this free verse style of literature really set the bar and tone for the writing done by today’s authors.
       Well now that you have a taste of what Imagism is, you should buy it! But how do you utilize it you may ask, well, Imagism is an idea, a breath, and an ideology you live by. Buying this product will give you multiple characteristics and will allow you to express yourself in ways you never thought you could.

The Story Behind the Woman Who Created it All

Fashion One

The Story Behind the Woman Who Created it All

Coco Chanel and Her Legacy

By Hiren Ajudia

It has become a norm for women of today to deck up before leaving their homes for any type of function. Leaving without the proper makeup and the matching purse is a big no-no. Adding on to this list of requirements, we see perfumes and other fragrances as a must do. One of the most popular essences is Chanel No. 5. This fragrance has been able to survive the test of time because it is popular till this date despite the fact that it had been launched in the 1920s.This fragrance says it all—Status, elegance, and style, and it is all owed to the designer who is known to the world as Coco Chanel. Her birth land was in another country, but yet her fame and fortune still touched the Americans and their lifestyle.

            Everything about Coco Chanel radiated the never dying themes of status. Just as women find great joy in hiding their age today, Coco shared the same beliefs. Although she was born in 1883, she made herself seem younger than reality by claiming to be born in 1893. For her, 10 years was a significant chunk of time, and clearly social status had been important for her from the start.

            Coco lived her early years as an orphan despite not actually being one. The death of her mother left her father with custody of five children, who was not able to take responsibility for them and sent them to an orphanage.  As soon as she was old enough to support herself, Coco left the orphanage and took up a typical job for a female—she worked as a tailor. 

Here we see Coco Chanel posing for the camera. She could possibly be thinking about a new fashion statement or she could simply be enjoying the view.

            For some, the war was a moment of disaster, but for Coco it was quite the opposite. During that time period, she had the chance to become a mistress and begin her commercial sales. At the age of 23, she began to design and create hats to divert her attention from the war, and they turned out to be a huge success.  Her success continued when she got her first millinery shop in Paris in 1910 with the help of her husband and her friend. On one side of her life, her husband’s death brought chaos into her life, but on the other side, her sales skyrocketed. From loose women’s jerseys, to setting fashion trends, she was on a role. Ignoring the common fashion, she created women’s jerseys and steered clear of the stiff corseted look of the time, and made a fashion statement with her bob haircut. Staples of the Chanel collection were created, which included her signature cardigan jacket, her little black dress, and her Chanel No. 5 perfume during this time period and became a huge hit because women felt that they were no longer restricted in the clothing styles of the past.

            Working in the fashion industry till her last breath in 1971, Coco left a legacy of commitment, style, quality, and appearance for the ongoing generations. Since the fashion trends are changing as quickly as overnight in our world, the adherence of her products in our society is clearly saying something about her and her products. Chanel and her products made it through two of our world’s major conflicts—both World Wars and they still are popular today. The standard she set was so high that in addition to her company’s products being pricey, they also symbolize quality and comfort. Imagining a world void of such a woman and her vision for the future, we could have possibly not been introduced to such a fashion time period and standards. Chanel has proved to the world that conditions like poverty, orphan hood and other harsh situations cannot stand in the way of making a change.

Here comapny's logo is a symbol of quality and comfort. Has there ever been a woman as her in the fashion world?

"A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous."-Coco Chanel

Jazz: The Bee’s Knees

by Royce Le

        Jazz is seen as just another category of music in today’s era, but, back in the 1920s, jazz was soulful, moving, and was even known as the rebellious music during that time period. Jazz was so essential within the 1920s that historians named it the “Jazz Age”. The birthplace of Jazz was New Orleans in which it danced its way to the ears of people in New Orleans, to Chicago, New York, and Kansas City. The word “jazz was not coined until 1917”, before then, this type of music was referred to as the “New Orleans Sound” or “The Sound of New Orleans”.

To the right is an image of one of the most

influential musicians of this era, Louis Armstrong.

He was a Jazz trumpeter and signer from New

Orleans, Louisiana in which he inspired the whole

concept of musical improvisation of groups to

individual extemporaneous pieces. He was

nicknamed “Satchmo” which was short for

“Satchelmouth”which was derived from rumors

saying that he got the name from his infections

grin or when his cheeks blew up when he played

the cornet.

            Jazz music falls directly in line with the whole Modernist Age in which there were no real defined verses or musical stanzas in which one must follow. This music was known as the rebellious music in the 1920s for it followed no rules and inspired those who listened to play by their own rules. We can see a distinct difference between the jazz played in the middle-class white populations’ dance halls, the “Negro Clubs”, and the jazz played in New Orleans. Since jazz originated in New Orleans, jazz musicians were more experienced, thus their music was more bold and vigorous when compared to the clubs and dance halls in other states. Moreover, scat singing was popularized during this era, which is also improvision but with voices to mimic instruments. Although there were many earlier examples of scatting, Louis Armstrong was the most famous for making scatting known and popularized and Ella Fitzgerald was known for being the women who carried the scat and quivered the soul. Overall, in the 1920s, Jazz was essentially for transforming the way people lived their lives, not only that, but in this day and age, we can see that jazz comes in all forms, blues to pop to rock, jazz as J.J. Johnson, one of the first trombonists to embrace bepop music, stated, “is restless. It won’t stay put and it never will”.

Born on 25 April 1917, Ella Fitzgerald was known by nicknames “Queen of Jazz,” “Lady Ella,” and “First Lady of Song”. She was a jazz vocalist who brought a sense of pride and self-esteem to women everywhere. When she sung, other voices stopped and every person listened with awe.

Prohibition: Who came up with this crazy idea?

Prohibition didn’t just appear in a poof of smoke…

The 1920s were a time for change, a time for progress.  They were a refreshing breath of fresh air that passed over America, attempting to sweep off the grimy dust ingrained in America’s cracks. Or perhaps scrape the gold façade from the surface and dive into the dark undertones hardly acknowledged in the Gilded Age.  “Progressivism” was the mantra of the decade. 

Progressivism went viral across the country.  It impacted every area of life: political, economic and social.  Attacking political machines, advocating for women’s rights, trust busting, conserving nature, and creating new legislature to protect workers were only a few examples of the nation’s steps in the march towards a more moral country.  At the heart of this march was the Progressives’ driving need to weed out the corruption in government, especially between officials and corporations.

The corrupt connection between politicians and alcohol made it difficult to rid America of spirits and for prohibition to be successful.  

During this time, the brewing industry was one of the most successful beverage alcohol industries.  Due to their extremely competitive nature, brewers entered the retail business. To expand the sale of beer, the brewers increased the number of saloons.  Saloons boomed.  Can you imagine:  a saloon for every 100 to 150 American (including those who didn’t drink)?!  The consensus was that America needed to be brought out of this social nose-dive.

The supposed solution was to target the businesses that manufactured, distributed and sold alcohol, thereby eliminating drinking in America. Many women, notably the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, believed illegalizing alcohol would protect families, women, and children from the effects of abuse and alcohol. It was a foolproof idea of course…

             

The Capital of Black America

                                                            

Beginning in the early 1900s and spanning through the 1920s, the Harlem Renaissance is the story of the establishment of the black middle class and the blossoming of African-American culture in European-American society. 

Even after blacks were given the vote, racism was rife, especially in the South.  After the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case institutionalized segregation, more black were encouraged to move to the north, where racism was significantly less extreme.  In addition, the North promised better educational advancement for African-Americans and their children and better job opportunities.  This Great Migration brought more than seven million blacks to the North.

Harlem became a mecca for the African-American population, housing many of the country’s most prominent black advocates, artists, entrepreneurs and intellectuals.  With black historian, sociologist, and Harvard scholar, W. E. B. Du Bois as a prominent leader, Harlem was launched into a movement that advocated racial equality.  Creativity exploded, inciting revolutions in poetry, fiction, music, dance, theatre, and art.  Blacks were invigorated to take pride in their heritage, especially with the encouragement of Jamaican-born Marcus Garvey, who advocated for blacks in using their history to take control of their futures.

As the ’20s drew to a close, so did the renaissance.  Especially influenced by the rapidly declining economic situation, the focus shifted from art and culture to financial issues.

Langston Hughes (Not Without Laughter, 1930), Zora N. Hurston (Jonah's Gourd Vine, 1934; Their Eyes Were Watching God, 1937), Claude McKay (Home to Harlem, 1927; Banjo, 1929; Gingertown, 1931; Banana Bottom, 1933), and Arna Botemps (God Sends Sunday, 1931; Black Thunder, 1936) W. E. B. Du Bois, and Richard Wright are examples of Harlem Renaissance writers and some of their associated works. 

Examples of Works:

An excerpt from Langston Hughes’ “The Weary Blues”:

1          Droning a drowsy syncopated tune,

2          Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon,

3              I heard a Negro play.

4          Down on Lenox Avenue the other night

5          By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light

6              He did a lazy sway ....

7              He did a lazy sway ....

8          To the tune o' those Weary Blues.

9          With his ebony hands on each ivory key

10        He made that poor piano moan with melody.

11            O Blues!

12        Swaying to and fro on his rickety stool

13        He played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool.

14            Sweet Blues!

15        Coming from a black man's soul.

16            O Blues!

17        In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone

18        I heard that Negro sing, that old piano moan--

19            "Ain't got nobody in all this world,

20            Ain't got nobody but ma self.

21             I's gwine to quit ma frownin'

22             And put ma troubles on the shelf."

In this example, there are very specific instances of individualism and alienation (especially in lines 19 and 20).  The singer sounds lonely, but at the same time the man listening to him sympathizes, providing a sense that they are together in their loneliness.  The inclusion of “Lenox Avenue,” a main street in Harlem, is an example of the theme “urban influence.”  Hughes is exploring the effects of the city on this particular individual and the way it has shaped his life. 

An excerpt from Zora Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God:

“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men.”

This quote contains the theme of individualism, and the uncertainty and lack of control many men faced during this era.  Many men had dreams and goals, often to reach the American Dream.  Some men were luckier than others—they reached their goals while others didn’t.  The loneliness and depression that accompanied this lack of control are apparent in this quote and are relevant themes in Modernism.