If You Come Softly

What is the role of race and class in this book? What power does race and class have over characters in the story? From whom do they face ostracism?

Though this book is a work of fiction written in 1998, it depicts many real and significant issues of racism in society. How does If You Come Softly address contemporary conversations about racism? Are there pieces of current events or modern culture that relate to this story?

How does the idea of time play a role in this story? In what ways does the story’s structure suggest that time holds inevitable power? In what ways does the story encourage individuals to seize their own power in the face of time’s inevitability?

How does Woodson use foreshadowing to create and build suspense? What does this use of foreshadowing and suspense say about the notions of time and fate?

What statement does Woodson seem to make about family and community? What roles do family and community play in the lives of these young characters? How does family shape an individual’s view of the world?

How do the changing points of view affect our understanding of each of these characters? What elements of dramatic irony does Woodson introduce through this method?

In coming-of-age stories, characters often go through a transformation where they reconsider the norms they have been taught and develop their own ideas of the world. How is this a coming-of-age story for Ellie and Jeremiah, and what beliefs are they forced to question? How do they begin to shape their own identities and views of the world around them?

What statement does the novel make about remembrance and grieving? Who or what is missed and remembered throughout the book? How does memory retain the things or people we miss? What power does memory have over time?