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    A Study Guide for Michael Dorris's "A Yellow Raft in Blue Water"
    A Study Guide for Michael Dorris's "A Yellow Raft in Blue Water"
    A Study Guide for Michael Dorris's "A Yellow Raft in Blue Water"
    Ebook45 pages34 minutes

    A Study Guide for Michael Dorris's "A Yellow Raft in Blue Water"

    By Gale and Cengage

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    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for Michael Dorris's "A Yellow Raft in Blue Water," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Novels for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Novels for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateJun 27, 2016
    ISBN9781535817530
    A Study Guide for Michael Dorris's "A Yellow Raft in Blue Water"

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      A Study Guide for Michael Dorris's "A Yellow Raft in Blue Water" - Gale

      4

      A Yellow Raft in Blue Water

      Michael Dorris

      1987

      Introduction

      Published in 1987, A Yellow Raft in Blue Water was Michael Dorris's first novel. Though the author went on to write six other works of fiction (including three young adult novels and a book of short stories) his first novel is generally considered his finest. A Yellow Raft in Blue Water is especially admired for his layered technique of telling the same story from multiple points of view. According to critic Louis Owens, Dorris borrowed that method from his wife, Louise Erdrich, a fellow writer and Native American who uses it in both Love Medicine and The Beet Queen. Dorris's novel, however, says Owens, generates an impact sharper and stronger than either of [Erdrich's]. Although reviewers like Michiko Kakutani criticized Dorris for withholding key information from the plot in order to create a false suspense, the critics' consensus is that what keeps readers involved is the vividly drawn characters rather than any formulaic mystery novel devices. A particular strength in the book is Dorris's portrayal of Indians who are neither stereotyped traditionalists nor mouthpieces for Red Power, but rather human beings in many ways like everyone else, trying to find their places in the world. As such they exemplify not just the clash between different cultures, but some of the great themes of fiction, whether it be the search for identity, the struggle within the self between strengths and weaknesses of character, or the clash of different cultures.

      Author Biography

      Michael Dorris was born on January 30, 1945, in either Louisville, Kentucky, or Dayton, Washington, the son of Jim and Mary Besy (Burkhardt) Dorris. Part Modoc on his father's side, he grew up on reservations in Montana and Kentucky. He graduated from Georgetown University with a B.A. cum laude in 1967. At Georgetown he studied theater, English, and the classics, and also developed a strong interest in cultural anthropology. Dorris received a M.Ph. from Yale University in 1970. Dorris began his academic career as an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Redlands in California. Dorris then spent a year at Franconia College in New Hampshire before settling at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. He began there as an instructor in 1972 and rose to become chair of the Native American studies department (1979-1985); chair of the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program (1982-1985); and professor of anthropology (1979-1988).

      During this period, Dorris also received numerous fellowships, including a Danforth (1967); Woodrow Wilson (1967, 1980); National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (1970); Guggenheim (1978); and Rockefeller (1985-86). He also won an Indian Achievement Award and the Choice Magazine Award for Outstanding Academic Book of 1984-85 for A Guide to Research on North American Indians. A Yellow Raft in Blue Water won a best book citation from the American

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