What is the thesis of the essay "Sister Flowers"? What does Mrs. Flowers represent to Ms. Angelou? What are the lessons about living that Mrs. Flowers coveys to Angelou? What senses are used and how is the method of organization revealed in the essay? How does Angelou imply that race was a fact of life in her town?

1. The premise in this essay concerns the value of using one's potential to achieve even more than one believes one is able to. It is evident from Mrs. Flowers's interaction with Marguerite (the speaker) that she wants her to add an extra element to what she has been achieving (in spite of the fact that she clearly displays superior talents already). 
2. Mrs. Flowers is the epitome of "what a human being should be." To Marguerite she is the ideal that she herself is striving toward. The text clearly illustrates the admiration and respect she has for Mrs. Flowers. The fact that Mrs. Flowers pays attention to her inspires her even more.
3. Mrs. Flowers teaches the speaker to not take for granted what she has and just accept that she is okay because she has such unique abilities. She teaches her that she should strive for better.
4. Sight: "She was thin..." "...printed voile dresses and flowered hats..."
Smell: "The odors in the house surprised me." "The sweet scent of vanilla..."
Taste: "...if I hadn't had to swallow, it would have been a dream come true."
Hearing: "I heard poetry for the first time in my life." "Her sounds began cascading gently."
Touch: "...the rough crumbs scratched the inside of my jaws."
5. "She was our side’s answer to the richest white woman in town."
"Our side" is an obvious reference to the fact that there were different sections in the community and that they were separated. In terms of the time setting, the poem was written at a time when communities were segregated according to their race. Blacks and whites lived apart from each other in clearly defined, separate communities, and often laws governed such divisions.