Sister Flowers
James Wright
Professor Duke
English 1301
April 14, 2014
Sister Flowers
“Sister Flowers” is a short story about a young girl named Marguerite. Due to being raped as a child she explains her life as “sopping around everywhere”. Until the day Marguerite received a “lifeline”, Mrs. Flowers, a friend of her grandmother. Throughout the short story, Marguerite gives a thorough explanation on her opinion of Mrs. Flowers. She puts her on a verbal pedestal, describing her as “someone who made me proud to be a Negro”. One day when Mrs. Flowers was walking home she invites Marguerite up to her place. It is there Mrs. Flowers exposes Marguerite to the true art of reading aloud. It is also where Marguerite understands that Mrs. Flowers likes her and wished to invest in her life.
One of the quotes I found particularly funny was when Marguerite is so grammatically annoyed by the way her mother speaks to Mrs. Flowers. “Why not ask, “How are you, Mrs. Flowers”.” Ironically this is exactly who I am with everyone I know, including my wife. She is the one who gets the most agitated by my simple corrections I like to give. Little do people know, it’s simply me working on improving myself, so I don’t slip up and start speaking in such a way. “Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with the shades of deeper meaning.” When Mrs. Flowers said this in the text, I really felt what she was getting at. When I really think about what she says, I find it is very true. Then, when she later exemplifies exactly what she says here, it really hits you. She recites “A Tale of Two Cities”, “It was the best of times and the worst of times…” as Marguerite expresses her own experience of the infused words uttered by Mrs. Flowers. “Her voice slid in and curved down through and over the words” and you experience exactly what she did. You can feel what she says, not just understand the words that are spoken. I believe it is important to
Professor Duke
English 1301
April 14, 2014
Sister Flowers
“Sister Flowers” is a short story about a young girl named Marguerite. Due to being raped as a child she explains her life as “sopping around everywhere”. Until the day Marguerite received a “lifeline”, Mrs. Flowers, a friend of her grandmother. Throughout the short story, Marguerite gives a thorough explanation on her opinion of Mrs. Flowers. She puts her on a verbal pedestal, describing her as “someone who made me proud to be a Negro”. One day when Mrs. Flowers was walking home she invites Marguerite up to her place. It is there Mrs. Flowers exposes Marguerite to the true art of reading aloud. It is also where Marguerite understands that Mrs. Flowers likes her and wished to invest in her life.
One of the quotes I found particularly funny was when Marguerite is so grammatically annoyed by the way her mother speaks to Mrs. Flowers. “Why not ask, “How are you, Mrs. Flowers”.” Ironically this is exactly who I am with everyone I know, including my wife. She is the one who gets the most agitated by my simple corrections I like to give. Little do people know, it’s simply me working on improving myself, so I don’t slip up and start speaking in such a way. “Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with the shades of deeper meaning.” When Mrs. Flowers said this in the text, I really felt what she was getting at. When I really think about what she says, I find it is very true. Then, when she later exemplifies exactly what she says here, it really hits you. She recites “A Tale of Two Cities”, “It was the best of times and the worst of times…” as Marguerite expresses her own experience of the infused words uttered by Mrs. Flowers. “Her voice slid in and curved down through and over the words” and you experience exactly what she did. You can feel what she says, not just understand the words that are spoken. I believe it is important to