Forrest Gump

by Winston Groom

1986

This space is set aside for a contextualizing narrative. It is available to either a contributing educator or for a student to submit.

Listen to the original conversation

Add to the discussion

The initial conversation addresses some of the questions that are used to analyze a primary source, but not all. With your teacher’s guidance, please record your insights on the following, and submit them to the site for publication:

  • How was this story made and using what material(s)? Remember, “material” doesn’t always mean tangible things.

  • Who was the intended audience of Winston Groom’s Forrest Gump?

  • Why was this book written?

  • Forrest navigates his way in and out of real places and events. In what ways is this book descriptive, and in what ways is it prescriptive?

Gallery

Winston Groom was a Vietnam Veteran and this book makes the war and its effects central to its plot. US society and culture was reflecting and healing regarding the Vietnam War throughout the 1980s. Provide other evidence of this in

  • Magazines

  • Television

  • Movies

  • Video Games

  • Other literature