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.