IND READ: Vanishing Acts # 2

1. Describe some intriguing questions, issues, or dilemmas your book raises. Attempt to explain and/or answer as many as you can citing specific evidence or examples when appropriate.
Vanishing Acts raises many questions. Most of the questions relate to atonement, and the question; can it be achieved? In the book, the main character Delia Hopkins faces the dilemma. She must make a choice: does she forgive the father with the best intentions, or the mother she always wanted, but never knew? Delia Hopkins always felt that something was missing. She knew she was missing a mother, and a childhood that for some reason has vanished from her mind. Delia never knew her mother nor did she remember her childhood, because her father kidnapped her away. Now years later the police show up on her doorstep with a warrant for her fathers arrest. The trail is taken back to Arizona, bringing with it memories of a life she had forgotten. Delia is faced with the toughest decisions of her life. Does she forgive her father, or testify against him.? Does she forgive her mother, who was too drunk to take care of her? Does she forgive her friend for leading the cops to her door? Can she admit that she would do the same thing if she alcoholic husband was too drunk to take care of their own daughter? Delia is forced to try to live the best of both worlds, forgiving as many people as she can. But she knows that her father was in the best of intentions, and her friend could not have possible foreseen the troubles his researched caused. it is up to her to fill in the pieces of her memory, and move past this difficult time.

Congratulations Class of 2009

Congratulations class of 2009. We have now endured 12 full years of school, and look forward to many more years of learning. When parting from high school, we have learned what has been perhaps the foundation for our growing. We have made mistakes, and we have made sacrifices. We know our limits, and we know how to push pass them. We have lived through many years of school, and have been prepared for what is next to come. For while the future is unclear, we look to with it with confident eyes. We are ready. As we all part from Wissahickon High School, we are getting ready to begin the rest of our lives. I wish all of you the best of luck, knowing we can succeed without it. I wish all of you to be strong when facing the challenges ahead of you. Face life's challenges head on, with strength, confidence and pride. Know that you can overcome any obstacle.Do not be afraid to live life, spend some moments living, and others dreaming of tommorrw. Aspire to be great. Aspire to be all that you can in life. Look to your future as if nothing is impossibe. Dare to dream, and dream for what you want most. Life should be taken with every breathe as a blessing. Love the moment, for it will pass quickly. Be happy with your decisions, and make them with the best intentions. Be ambitious. Look for better things, and get to them. Never be afraid to work hard, for hard work will build your strength and character. Students of Wissahickon, I hope that you go out into the world with the people you love right beside you. Go strong Wissahickon, the future will the tough, but there is so much beauty in it to be experienced. For we all have the potential to live the way we want to. The future is ours. Please, experience life for all that it is worth.

Independent Reading: Vanishing Acts

Prompt 1:
Tell what you noticed about the characters or people in this section. Try to analyze what made them act as they did or the decisions they made.

Andrew Hopkins was a loving father, who many years ago made a decision in hopes of providing a better life for his daughter. He chose to kidnap her. Andrew Hopkins, or Charles Edward Matthews as he was once known, had took his daughter away form her mother in order to give his daughter a better childhood. The father stole his daughter during his weekend visitation time with his daughter. Andrew believed that his daughter would be forced to take care of her mother day after day. So, Andrew Hopkins kidnapped his own daughter and provided her with a new life. He told his daughter that her mother had died. It was not until the policemen showed up on their doorstep with a warrant for his arrest that he told Delia the truth. Now, Andrew is in jail wanting to plead guilty to the crime he knows was right. Now Delia must choose to forgive her father, or testify against him. It is up to her to decide if atonement can be made.

Amir's Atonement

Throughout the novel Amir is facing his sins. A phone call with the words there is a way to be good again, made his mind go back into the world he was trying to forget. Amir grew up trying to be the center of his father's attention. He tried desperately to get his approval. He wanted it so bad, that Amir believed any means to get it, would be justified. Amir found a way to get his fathers approval from a kite tournament that he, and his best friend Hassan, would have no trouble winning. The night of the tournament was going well, Amir was finally going to get everything he has always wanted, when the terrible happened. Amir was faced with a decision that changed his life forever. His friend was raped, and he stood by and did nothing. He chose to believe it never happened. The event changed their friendship forever, as they became istant for each other. Hassan made a sacrifice to receive the last fallen kite,; and while it gave Amir the attention he always wanted, the cost was his friendship. Amir had chosen to keep that night a secret. But it destroyed him on the inside. He wished that he could have been the Hero his father was. When traveling to Pakistan, his father would have rather died than sat and did nothing, while others were being disgraced. Amir was afraid that night, and did not have the courage to stop it. He wishes to be forgiven from his betrayal. He wishes that Hassan would forgive him, that he did something to protect his friend. Though, as a child Amir wished Hassan would protect himself. He wished he would have been storng that night. Amir did so many terrible things to Hassan, that he had no choice but to leave. Amir wishes that he could be forgiven, receive atonement for the way he treated Hassan.

Atonement

It is possible for atonement, or amends, to be made dealing with past mistakes and sins. As a Christian, I have been forgiven of all of my sins, and past mistakes. I know, and God knows, that I will make many more mistakes in the future. The most important thing about committing a sin, or making a mistake, is forgiveness. It is important to realize the wrong doing, repent the sin, and forgive. Once forgiveness is issued, the persons involved can move on, learn, and ever repeat the past. I have made many mistakes in my life, and thank God that I am forgiven. It is from mistakes and sins that we learn, and can teach others. I believe that in The Kite Runner, Amir is seeking forgiveness for his mistake. He wishes that he could have been brave, and a hero to his best friend. Amir wishes forgiveness from his best friend. He wishes that there is a way to be good again. To relive all of the glory days he and Hassan spent together. Since he made his critical mistake, he has never been the same again.

Mistakes

I have made my fair share of mistakes throughout life; and as my parents say, i will make many more. I like to keep my mistakes close to my heart, so that i can learn from them always. i like to believe that my mistakes are between me and God, and once he forgives me, i can move on. The best things that come from mistakes are forgiveness and learning. I pray that i can always see when i make a mistake, and have the courage to change it. And if i can't change it, i pray that i can learn from it, so i can move forward, never repeating the past.

IND READ: Vanishing Acts

I have already started to read my independent reading book. I am about 50 pages into it, and so far like where the book is going. The book right now has a lot of mystery, that once we learn, will be two sided. The main character, Delia Hopkins, had a loving father growing up. However she always felt lost, and as if something were missing in her life. She had flashbacks of memories, that she tells herself never happened. She felt the need to search for missing people, because she felt lost herself. She never knew her mother, and just found out that her father never told her the truth about her childhood. As it turns out, Delia's loving father, kidnapped her from her mother soon after they divorced. Delia is now trying to figure out if she can ever forgive her father, and if she can really testify against him in court. Her father is in jail, and her husband is defending him. The reader has not yet figured out what the mother did to make the father kidnap her, however i have read Jodi Picolt before, and the reason is always a controversial one.