Tt: Troglodyte

Word Defined

A stock character based upon the widespread concepts of the way in which early prehistoric humans may have looked and behaved.

Cocktail Party Banter

I am a troglodyte lover, I will bring you back to the days not written of.

Literary Context

These vile old troglodytes are no longer there; but into their deserted cave another terrible giant has thrust himself, and makes it his business to seize upon honest travelers and fatten them for his table with plentiful meals of smoke, mist, moonshine, raw potatoes, and sawdust.

Mosses From An Old Manse and other stories by Hawthorne, Nathaniel View in context

Audio Visual

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Pp: Proscenium

Definition

The stage of an ancient Greek or Roman theater.
The part of the stage that is in front of the curtain.
The wall that separates the stage from the auditorium and provides the arch that frames it.

 Cocktail Banter

The other night the proscenium in the theater was beautifully constructed.

Literary Use of Word

The other spectators can't see anything beyond the proscenium and it's fair to say they'd rather not.(Wimmer 122)
Wimmer, Natasha. 2666: a Novel by Roberto Bulano. New York: Picador, 2009. 

Audio/Visual

Aa: Alacrity

Definition

1. Cheerful willingness.

2. Speed of a bullet train.

Cocktail Party Banter

He works with such alacrity that he leaves messes all over the place.  He works like a hurricane.

Literary Reference

Through the arch, half ironic designs suggested to the artist by vaudeville stunts, circus acrobatics, jazz-band acts, and the night life of the streets, he comes into touch with the nervous alacrity, the devil-may-care momentum, the half vulgar erotic flush which creates Broadway, that lane running from New York through the continent unto Alaska. 

Meyer, Peter and Arthur Danto. Brushes with History. City: Nation Books, 2001. pg 190

Audio/Visual

Senryù

 Definition 

like Haiku but concerned with human foibles.(Wikipedia) 


"Senryu, like haiku, are usually one to three lines in length but whilst haiku focuses on nature and the world around us, senryu homes in on human nature and the way our human minds function within our many environments. Senryu may or may not include aspects of the natural world, but if they do, they do so with an emphasis on the way we as human beings perceive those aspects and how they interact with our own psychology. In this way, senryu are often, though not always, humorous and are frequently complemented by a sharp, sometimes wicked wit. (From Prune Juice)" 

Differences between Haiku and Senryu

Haiku	Senryu
Seasonal Reference	No Seasonal Reference
Haiku is Haiku	Synru is playful using simile, metaphor, and personification

Kerouac, Jack and Regina Weinreich. Book of Haikus. New York: Penguin Poets, 2003.

Cocktail Party Banter

What do you do Frank?
I write Senryu for a literary magazine on the internet.
So in other words you are one of those Burma Bums?

Audio Visual

Links

Haiku in the Internet Era: The Atlantic Magazine
Haiku Society of America