Heavy: Essay Outline & Thoughts

1. Later, we learn how Kiese becomes fixated on reading the dictionary, as well how heavily he monitors his speech around his peers. We also see how this bleeds into his writing.

2. We also explore how this policing and desire to be successful leads to Kiese struggling to find his identity and experiencing low self esteem, including him treating his insecurities in an unhealthy manner.

3. Finally, we explore how it affects him subconsciously, how he identifies it, and his transition in college and adulthood from assimilating in order to achieve his goals into finding his true voice beyond the mental censorship, and how this gave him the strength and courage he sought for since his childhood.

4. Throughout the story, one of the most common themes is how being adjacent to whiteness is considered desirable, even at the cost of one's identity

5. We first see this through how Kiese's mother and grandmother police his language and try to make it seem "proper"

6. This essay will also connect Heavy into real life experiences including historical figures and anecdotes.