Christian Small

ENC 1101
Process Memo Heuristic Paper 2
I had just seen Forrest Gump for the first time prior to receiving the
assignment, and because I loved the movie, I wanted to go into further detail
regarding it. The movie opened my eyes, and I knew that there were a lot of
different messages and themes within the movie that I could choose to write about.
My claim about this story was that quality of life is determined by ones
attitude and mental outlook. I supported this stance by dissecting the protagonist,
Forrest Gump, and his ability to live out a good life despite being at a disadvantage
from the moment he is born.
I used evidence directly from the movie, and from outside sources. The outside
sources were from professors at universities who talked about happiness and what
exactly contributed to a quality life. I found this evidence on the internet by doing
advanced Google searches, in order to find .edu websites.
My audience would probably be psychologists, since my paper kind of takes a
psychological approach in terms of discussing quality of life and how exactly it is
determined.
I attempted to give a good description of the movie to hold the reader interested,
while making sure that my evidence is in line with the plot so the reader doesnt get
lost at all. Other than that, I didnt really connect with the audience directly.
The barriers that I encountered when writing this paper were minimal. Initially,
I couldnt settle on an idea for a thesis, and my ideas were kind of scattered across
the paper.
I overcame this barrier when I made an outline and began to organize my
thoughts. This made it a lot easier for me to put down exactly what my mind was
telling me I wanted to put down onto the paper.
I think that I need to work on finding general sources and using them to support
my claim. It was difficult at times for me to find sources, and as a result I dont think
that I had as many as I wouldve liked. In the future I should try not to be so specific
when Im searching for sources.
My writing process was very organized. I spaced out my work over the course of
time so I wouldnt be pressed until the last minute, and I organized my work heavily
to make sure that my paper was good. Im very happy with how my paper came out,
and I honestly think its one of the best papers Ive ever written.