detecting the American soul in each of the following specimens:
The American Joke
A white man cannot drink the water of Mono Lake, for it is nearly pure lye. It is said that the Indians in the vicinity drink it, though. It is not improbable, for they are among the purest liars I ever saw.[1]
The Life of the Mind
He saw that she had instantly understood his motive, though the family dignity which both considered so high a virtue would not permit her to tell him so. The persons of their world lived in an atmosphere of faint implications and pale delicacies, and the fact that he and she understood each other without a word seemed to the young man to bring them nearer than any explanation would have one.[2]
A Bit of National Color
There floated from somewhere the scent of boiled corned-beef-and-cabbage and the clatter of dishes on the American plan.[3] (Quoted from memory.)
Pragmatic Distinctions
- ↑ Mark Twain in "Roughing It"
- ↑ Mrs. Wharton in "The Age of Innocence"
- ↑ O. Henry
