The Biracial Family

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the book "Clover" by Doris Sanders that portrays the life of a young black child reared by a white woman in a close-knit, African-American farming community. The paper considers the book's dominant themes of intermarriage and women and work and highlights Sanders' depiction of gender-specific expectations.

Outline:
Part One: Summary of Text
Intermarriage
Women and Work

From the Paper:

"Dori Sander's, Clover, is a thoughtful look at what it is like to be a young black child reared by a white woman in a close-knit, African-American farming community. The book explores Clover's own conflicting feelings towards Sara Kate and the difficult time Sara Kate experiences by virtue of being a white interloper in a protective and tightly-bound black extended family. Furthermore, the book looks at how Clover finds herself uncomfortably straddling two worlds that are divided by cleavages that extend beyond race. To wit, Sara Kate is well-educated and intelligent and white (and apparently fairly upper-class) and Clover's family is working poor, African-American, rural and not terribly urbane. In a real sense, the little girl is the embodiment of the fears, tensions and insecurities many children endure when thrust into biracial marriages in a society that has not yet embraced them."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Baca Zinn, Maxine, and Eitzen, D. Stanley. (2005a). Chapter seven: The social construction of intimacy. Diversity in Families. Retrieved April 10, 2007 from <http://www.wou.edu/~dolanm/soc338%20bz%20ch7.ppt#257,1,Diversity in Families Maxine Baca Zinn D. Stanley Eitzen>
• Baca Zinn, Maxine, and Eitzen, D. Stanley. (2005b). Chapter Three: The historical making of family diversity. Diversity in Families. Retrieved April 10, 2007 from <http://www.wou.edu/~dolanm/soc338%20bz%20ch3.ppt#257,1,Diversity in Families Maxine Baca Zinn D. Stanley Eitzen>
• Baca Zinn, Maxine, and Eitzen, D. Stanley. (2005c). Chapter Two: Pre-Industrial families and the emergence of a modern family form. Diversity in Families. Retrieved April 10, 2007 from <http://www.wou.edu/~dolanm/soc338%20bz%20ch2.ppt#257,1,Diversity in Families Maxine Baca Zinn D. Stanley Eitzen>
• Sanders, Dori. (1990). Clover. USA: Algonquin.

More papers on The Biracial Family:

• Book Review # 114807 : "Johnson's "The Autobiography of an Ex-colored Man"
• Research Proposal # 51012 : "Biracial Children"
• Research Paper # 119222 : "Biracial Children"

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