Setting
One of Michael Dorris’s strengths is to create settings that pull readers into the story, constructing detailed landscapes that serve a much greater purpose than […]
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Themes and Characters
Establishing distinct, realistic characters is at the center of Michael Dorris’s approach to writing fiction, and the themes of this novel are revealed in the […]
Literary Qualities
A skilled storyteller, Dorris effectively uses literary techniques associated with oral tradition in A Yellow Raft in Blue Water: strong narrative voice, vivid imagery, figurative […]
Social Sensitivity
Dorris introduces a number of issues in A Yellow Raft in Blue Water that reveal his understanding of complex social situations. The non-Indian characters are […]
Topics for Discussion
1. What conflicts and bonds between mothers and daughters are evident from the first scene of this novel? How are these conflicts developed? In what […]
Ideas for Reports and Papers
1. Using the Internet and print sources, find out as much about Montana as possible: pictures, maps, geography, cultural and historical sites. How has the […]
Related Titles and Adaptations
Other works by Michael Dorris are natural extensions of a reading of A Yellow Raft in Blue Water. Dorris found Rayona so compelling that he […]
About the Author
Elisabeth (Betty) Smith was born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 15, 1896, to a family of German immigrants. Smith’s father, John Wehner, died when […]