62 pages • 2 hours read
Heavy
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
During Reading
Reading Questions & Paired Texts
Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
Part 1
Reading Check
1. What is the name of the neighbor Kiese visits?
2. What does Kiese do instead of the assignments his mother gives him?
3. What kind of car does Kiese’s mom drive?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What assignments does Kiese’s mom give him, and why?
2. Why is a picture of Kiese’s mom posted at the grocery store? How does this make Kiese feel?
3. How does Kiese respond when his mom calls him fat for the first time?
4. What does Grandmama say when Kiese asks her if 218 pounds is too heavy for a 12-year-old? What does this show about her character?
Paired Resource
“Sonya Renee Taylor - The Body is Not an Apology”
- This 4-minute video features Sonya Renee Taylor performing her poem “The Body is Not an Apology.” Taylor is a writer, activist, and performer whose work is grounded in body liberation, racial justice, and radical love.
- This video connects to the theme of Weight.
- What does it mean for the body to not be an apology? How does Laymon grapple with some of the messages of Taylor’s poem in Heavy?
Part 2
Reading Check
1. What is the name of Kiese’s new school in Chapter 5?
2. What is the most important part of writing and life, according to Kiese’s mom?
3. What happens between Kiese and Kamala Lackey at Donnie Gee’s party?
4. What major news event do Kiese and his mom watch while she holds him in her lap?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How do LaThon and Kiese treat language at St. Richard’s, and what does this show about them?
2. Where do Kiese and his mom move, and why?
3. How does the move impact Kiese’s mom?
4. What is the name of Kiese’s mom’s mentor, and what is her profession?
Paired Resource
“James Baldwin Discusses Racism: The Dick Cavett Show”
- This 17-minute video shows an interview between Dick Cavett and James Baldwin in 1969.
- This connects to the theme of Racism and Language and Truth and Lies.
- How are Baldwin’s words reflected in Heavy? What is the significance of Baldwin speaking primarily to a white audience on this platform, and how does that relate to what Laymon grapples within his own memoir?
Part 3
Reading Check
1. Where does Kiese go to college after graduating high school?
2. What is the name of the woman Kiese gets involved with at college?
3. Which grade was Kiese in when he weighed the same as he does now, at 218 pounds?
4. What is the consequence for Kiese taking The Red Badge of Courage from the library without checking it out?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What shocks Kiese’s mom when he returns home for Christmas break? What does she make him do?
2. What does Kiese’s mom tell him to do after the news crew shows up at Millsaps, and why?
3. Where does Kiese work after leaving Millsaps, and what does he learn from the people there?
Paired Resource
“The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House”
- Audre Lorde’s 1984 essay explores the relationship between intersectional feminism and patriarchy.
- This essay connects to the theme of Racism And Language.
- How are Laymon and Lorde both addressing the personal as political? How does Laymon include some of Lorde’s philosophy in his own story?
Part 4
Reading Check
1. How much does Kiese weigh at the beginning of Chapter 13?
2. What movie are Grandmama, Aunt Sue, Aunt Linda, and Kiese’s mom watching after Grandmama is released from the hospital?
3. What is the name of the white student that Kiese is asked to mentor?
4. What is Kiese’s mom asking for with more frequency?
5. How much money does Kiese steal from Flora after he promises he will stop gambling?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What does Kiese tell Uncle Jimmy, and what is Jimmy’s response?
2. What major event happens during Kiese’s tenure at Vassar? What does he notice about people’s behavior afterwards?
3. What is Kiese’s exercise routine, and what does this show about his physical and mental health?
4. What does Kiese do at the end of Chapter 15, and what does this show about his state of being?
Paired Resource
“Combating Racism and Place-ism in Medicine”
- In this 11-minute TED Talk, Dr. Nwando Olayiwola discusses how the medical profession can perpetuate harmful stereotypes that lead to negative patient outcomes.
- This video connects to the theme of Racism and Language.
- What is medical racism, and how does it impact people of color? Where is medical racism seen in Heavy? How does it impact the characters?
Recommended Next Reads
Hunger by Roxane Gay
- Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body was published in 2018 and explores Roxane Gay’s relationship with food and her own body as well as her journey to find healing and recovery from personal trauma.
- Shared themes include Weight and Racism and Language.
- Shared topics include trauma and recovery, identity, Blackness, and the healing power of language.
- Hunger on SuperSummary
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- This memoir was published in 2015 and takes the form of a letter written from Coates to his teenage son, inspired by James Baldwin’s epistolary text The Fire Next Time. The book centers on the Black male experience and racial violence in America.
- Shared themes include Racism and Language and Truth and Lies.
- Shared topics include the vulnerability of the Black body in America, race and racism, the role of the past, and familial and societal legacy.
- Between the World and Me on SuperSummary
Reading Questions Answer Key
Part 1
Reading Check
1. His mother (Various chapters)
2. Beulah Beauford (Chapter 1)
3. Swims in the pool (Chapter 1)
4. A Nova (Chapter 3)
Short Answer
1. She asks him to write complex essays using the neighbor’s encyclopedias because she thinks that proper language and conventions will protect Kiese from racism. (Chapter 1)
2. Her picture is posted because she writes bad checks, and this embarrasses Kiese. (Chapter 2)
3. Kiese covers up his chest and stomach with his hands. He says that he didn’t think his mother saw his body as fat, and the realization makes him feel betrayed. (Chapter 3)
4. She says that 218 pounds is just right and “just heavy enough for everything you need to be heavy enough for.” This shows that she cares about Kiese and knows that he has and will face struggle and hardship. (Chapter 4)
Part 2
Reading Check
1. St. Richard Catholic School (Chapter 5)
2. Revision (Chapter 6)
3. She confides in him. (Chapter 7)
4. The Rodney King verdict (Chapter 8)
Short Answer
1. They play around with words and use them in unusual and creative ways. This shows that they have a strong understanding of language, and that they understand the way racism impacts their experience at school. (Chapter 5)
2. They move to Maryland so his mother can participate in a postdoc fellowship at the University of Maryland. (Chapter 6)
3. Kiese’s mom is much calmer and kinder after the move, and they always have enough food in the house. Kiese’s om thinks being a student again is good for her. (Chapter 6)
4. Her name is Margaret Walker, and she is a poet. (Chapter 8)
Part 3
Reading Check
1. Millsaps (Chapter 9)
2. Nzola (Chapter 9)
3. Seventh grade (Chapter 11)
4. He gets expelled from school. (Chapter 12)
Short Answer
1. She is shocked by Kiese’s weight gain, and she makes him get on the scale. (Chapter 10)
2. She tells him to come home because “white people’s ignorance is not [his] responsibility.” (Chapter 11)
3. He works at Grace House. The men there give him the gift of perspective, and they remind him that he is more than his own insecurities. (Chapter 12)
Part 4
Reading Check
1. 183 pounds (Chapter 13)
2. The Color Purple (Chapter 13)
3. Cole (Chapter 14)
4. Money (Chapter 15)
5. 10 dollars (Chapter 16)
Short Answer
1.He tells Uncle Jimmy that he loves losing weight, and Uncle Jimmy replies that Kiese is turning into a white girl. (Chapter 13)
2. The September 11th terrorists attacks happen, and Kiese notices people of color going out of their way to express their patriotism, likely as a form of self-protection. (Chapter 14)
3. He plays two hours of basketball, runs 11 miles a day, and walks on a stair-stepper in his apartment. This shows that Kiese has an eating disorder and an addiction to exercise that is impacting his health. (Chapter 15)
4. Kiese calling his mom for help for the first time shows his desperation and fear. It also shows that he understands how much damage he is doing to his body. (Chapter 15)
Unlock all 62 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
Related Titles
By Kiese Laymon
