The Fellowship of the Ring Essay Example For Students

The Fellowship of the Ring Essay In The Fellowship of the Ring, the main character is Frodo Baggins, a hobbit from the Shire who becomes the Ring-bearer. The main villain is Sauron, the Dark Lord that forged the One Ring to take over Middle-Earth. In the fellowship, besides the ring-bearer, are three other hobbits, Samwise Gamgee, Peregrin Took and Meriadoc Brandybuck, three of Frodos closest friends. There is also Gandalf, the wizard he is a powerful wizard, second to only Saruman the White. Legolas Greenleaf, son of the Elf King of Northern Mirkwood he is an eleven archer with a true aim. The dwarf Gimli heir to the throne of Gondor, Gimli wields a powerful ax in battle and is a great craftsman. We will write a custom essay on The Fellowship of the Ring specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now He is the true King of Gondor hasnt yet re-claimed his throne but spends his time protecting and aiding the fellowship members, and finally Boromir, oldest son of the Steward of Gondor. He is next in line to be the Steward of Gondor, but doesnt always seem trustworthy however, as time passes he forms a bond with the Halflings (the hobbits) and is very protective of them.Yet they all have some talent or purpose in aiding Frodo in the quest. The book takes place in different parts of Middle Earth during the Third Age. The mood is often quite tense with suspense and a sense of doom. They are in constant danger, always being watched or hunted.The hobbits leave their precious homes and travel through the Old Forest to get to Bree, where they meet Aragorn and he aids them in their journey. All five later leave for Rivendell and the mood is quite tense with the Black Riders hunting them down. On the way, they stop at Weathertop, where Frodo is, unfortunately, stabbed with a Morgul blade. Luckily, they all get to Rivendell safely with the help of Glorfindel, an elf. Once there, Frodo is given time to heal before Lord Elrond summons a council and the fellowship is formed with nine members. The fellowship continue on their quest to get rid of the ring and were forced to trudge through Caradhras in order to avoid the dark and secret way. However, they were forced to take that path, after being forced off Caradhras, through the Mines of Moria where it is believed that Gandalf had fallen into shadow in their escape. They next travel to Lothlorien, where they are given food, shelter and advice. Reluctantly, they leave, sailing down the Great River Anduin, resting on its banks and there they try to decide their next destination. They are attacked by Uruk-hai and Orcs, and the Fellowship is broken up THE END. .. read the next oneThis is a really good book and if you havent read it, you should. Many people are reading it now, or re-reading it again. It has a great storyline, lovable and enchanting characters, and a whole new world was created for it. Plus they are making a movie series about it so if you saw the first movie you need to read this to compare how they close they are. Also if you have read the Hobit you owe it to yourself to read this book because it is a great sequel and better in my opinion. It really is the Book of the CenturyWords/ Pages : 555 / 24

business analysis and valuation Essay

business analysis and valuation Essay business analysis and valuation Essay Financial Statement Analysis Professor Partha S. Mohanram Hints on How to Identify Firms from Financial Statements This exercise is a neat way to learn about how industrial characteristics and firm specific strategic choices affect financial statements. Here are a few hints to help you solve such problems. 1. Group Companies according to Industry. 2. Identify obvious industrial traits. For instance Which industries are likely to have high levels of property plant and equipment (PPE)? Which industries are likely to have high cash balances and which ones are likely to have low cash balances? Which industries are likely to have high levels of inventories and which are likely to have low levels of inventories? How large is the Balance Sheet with respect to the Income Statement? And so on and so forth†¦... 3. Look for obvious hints in the financial statements Are there any statements with some items that most others lack? (e.g. R&D) Are there statements lacking some items that most others have? (e.g. Inventories) Are some numbers distinctively larger or smaller than others? 4. Try to match industries with groups of statements. For example, if Firms A, B, and D are in the Finance industry and you think statements x, y and z seem to match them well, keep them aside as a â€Å"broad† match†. 5. Try to narrow the broad matches using firm specific strategic information. What can you say about the strategies of A,B,D that lets you match them more specifically with x, y or z? 6. Use a process of elimination to match the remaining firms. It gets easier once you are sure of the first 5-6 matches. 7. Don’t be afraid to make changes if you find another firm matches your original choice better. 10 Financial Statement Analysis Professor Partha S. Mohanram Identify the Firms Use the data in these â€Å"common sized† financial statements to uncover which financial statements belong to which of these firms. All items are expressed as a percentage of sales – i.e. how large each of the items are with respect to $100 of sales. A brief description of the firms follows to assist you in the process. Remember – these financial statements do not have to be from the most recent year. 1. US Steel – manufactures and sells a range of steel products. 2. American Insurance Group – sells a broad range of insurance products. Revenues include premiums from customers and revenues earned from cash received from customers. Expenses include amounts paid out or expected to be paid out for claims. 3. Gillette – makes and sells a wide range of consumer personal grooming products. Has made a lot of acquisitions recently. 4. Hewlett Packard – the firm develops, manufactures and sells computer hardware, with a large part of the manufacturing outsourced. 5. Household International : A firm that lends money to consumers for periods ranging from few months to many years. A big part of expenses is the estimated uncollectable loans. 6. Interpublic Group : A media services firm. Creates advertising copy. Purchases ad time and space. Revenues are commissions for these services. Has made a lot of acquisitions recently. 7. Kelly Services : A â€Å"temp† agency. Hires out temporary help. 8. Lands End : An catalog based apparel selling firm. Most revenues through 3 rd party credit card. Sells own branded merchandise. 9. TJX Enterprises : Owns TJ Maxx and Marshalls – clothing stores. Sells bargain priced â€Å"famous maker† apparel. 10. McDonalds – Operates fast food restaurants, both thru firm owned as well as franchised operations. McDonalds often owns and leases properties to franchisees under long term leases. 11. Newmont Mining – Mines gold and other metals. R&D includes exploration costs, but can be zero if there is no exploration 12. Wendys – Similar to McDonalds, but Wendys owns most of its restaurants. Use the hints in the handout to guess which firm is which. Use your common sense about these firms, these

AMC 12

How to Study for the Math Olympiad AMC 10/AMC 12 SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Have you ever wondered what it would take to represent America at the International Math Olympiad? Or maybe you’re a strong math student who is wondering what opportunities are available to you outside the classroom? In this article, we'll answer all your Math Olympiad questions! We’ll explain what it takes to qualify for the International Math Olympiad and how to ace the qualifying tests – the AMC 10 and AMC 12. How Do You Qualify for Math Olympiad? In this section we discuss the three key steps to qualifying for Math Olympiad. Step 1: Take the AMC 10 or AMC 12 The AMC 10 and AMC 12 are nationwide tests administered by the Mathematical Association of America that qualify you for the American Invitational Mathematics Exam (AIME). Only those with top scores will be invited to take the AIME.The MAA recommends 9thand 10thgraders take the AMC 10, and thand 12thgraders take the AMC 12. You can take the AMC 10 and/or 12 multiple times. The AMC 10 and AMC 12 each have 25 questions. You have 75 minutes for the entire exam. Each correct answer is worth 6 points (for a maximum score of 150) and each unanswered question is worth 1.5 points.There is no deduction for wrong answers. Note thatyou don’t need to get all of the questions right to get a qualifying score.You just have to do better than most of the other students taking the exam! Keep that in mind as you come up with a strategy for the test. Youneed to be in the top 5% of scorers on the AMC 12 or the top 2.5% of scorerson the AMC 10to qualify, so the vast majority of people who take the AMC exams don't qualify. But, if you do, you can take the AIME. Step 2: Take the AIME The AIME is a 15-question, three-hour exam, and each answer is an integer between 0 and 999, inclusive. Regardless of whether you took the AMC 10 or AMC 12, everyone takes the same AIME. It's offered once a year (with an alternate test date available for those who can't make the official exam date) in the spring.Unlike the AMC 10 and the AMC 12, you can only take the AIME once, so you want to make sure you do your best on it. After you take the AIME, your AIME score is multiplied by ten and added to your AMC score to determine if you qualify for Math Olympiad. The cutoff score for qualifying changes yearly, but it's set so about 260-270 students qualify for Math Olympiad each year. Step 3: Qualify for and Compete in Math Olympiad If you do well on the AIME, you can qualify for the US Mathematical Olympiad. The top scorers from that competition then have the opportunity to train to be on the US team that competes at the International Math Olympiad. (You can find more info on this process over at the Mathematical Association of American website.) It’s a long process to get to the IMO, and very few students make it that far. But even just taking the AIME can set you apart in the college admissions process, especially if you are interested in engineering programs. Along with a high GPA and strong SAT/ACT scores, taking the AIME is a way to signal to colleges you have superior math and problem-solving skills. How Can You Learn Math Olympiad Content? Math through pre-calculus covers most topics tested on the AMC 10 and 12 and the AIME, but math competition problems will be trickier than what you see on your usual math homework assignments. If you’re not up to pre-calculus in school yet, your first task will be learning the content before focusing on how to solve problems that the AMC 10 and 12 tend to ask. See if there is a teacher or peer who is willing to tutor you if you haven’t taken pre-calculus. You could also see if it’s possible to take the course over the summer to get caught up quickly. In the meantime, you can explore parts of your own math textbook you haven’t gotten to yet, or ask to borrow textbooks from teachers at your school if you want to brush up on a topic not covered in the math class you’re taking this year. Also check out these online content resources from the MAA to help you study. How Can You Learn Problem-Solving Skills? The key to doing well on AMC is not just knowing math and being able to do rote problems, but to know concepts inside and out and be able to use them to solve tricky problems. Think outside the textbook. The website Art of Problem Solving is a hub for math competition resources and problems, and has been mentioned by many former AMC-takers as a top resource. They have pages on learning to solve certain types of problems, advice on the best prep books, and forums where you can talk to other AIME hopefuls about studying and strategy. This page provides links to practice problems and prep books and is a great place to get started. Our advice to study for the AMC is to do lots of practice problems, and then correct them. Carefully analyze your weaknesses. Don’t just notice what you did wrong, get inside your head and figure out why you got a problem wrong and how you will work to get it correct the next time. To improve your problem-solving ability, you can also consider borrowing or purchasing books specifically about solving math problems. Try How To Solve It by George Polya, Problem-Solving Strategies by Arthur Engel, or Challenging Problems in Algebra by Alfred Posamentier and Charles Salkind. These books will give you skills not typically taught in your math classes. How to Prepare for Math Olympiad Studying is more than just putting the time in. You want to make sure you are using the best practice problems and really analyzing your weak points to get your math skills to where they need to be. Read on to learn the six tips you need to follow to study like a pro. #1: Use Quality Practice Problems Use practice problems from past AMCs when possible. You want to prepare for the format and type of questions on the AMC. Any problem-solving practice you get will be helpful, but if you’re set on qualifying the AIME, you should spend the majority of your time prepping for AMC-type questions. If you're unclear on how to solve a problem, ask your math teacher, a math team friend, or an online forum like the one at Art of Problem Solving. The better you understand each AMC problem you encounter, the more likely you are to be prepared for the real thing. #2: Don't Lounge Around Quality practice time is key! Make sure to time yourself and simulate real test-taking conditions when doing practice problems – find a quiet room, don’t use outside resources as you test, and sit at a proper table or desk (don’t lounge in bed!). As you review problems, bring in your outside resources, from websites to problem-solving books, but remember to stay alert and focused. Don't let study time turn into naptime! #3: Focus on Your Weak Areas When studying, spend the most time focusing on your weak areas. As you work through practice problems, keep track of problems you didn’t know how to solve or concepts you’re shaky on. You can log your mistakes into a journal or notebook to help focus your studying. And don’t just log your mistakes and move on, figure out why you made those mistakes – what didn’t you know, what you assumed – and make a plan to get similar problems right in the future. #4: Beware of Tiny Mistakes Be very, very careful about small mistakes – like forgetting a negative sign, accidentally moving a decimal point, or making a basic arithmetic error. You could get the meat of a problem correct but still answer a problem wrong if you make a tiny mistake. Get in the habit of being hyper-vigilant and careful when you practice, so you don’t make these mistakes when you take the exam for real. Never assume you're too smart for a silly mistake! #5: Schedule Regular Study Time Finally, set aside dedicated time each week for studying. By practicing at least once a week, you will retain all of the skills you learn and continue to build on your knowledge. Build studying into your schedule like it’s another class or extracurricular. If you don’t, your studying could fall by the wayside and you’ll lose out on getting the amount of practice you need. #6: Attend Other Math Competitions If there is a math team or club at your school, join for the practice!Doing smaller competitions can help you learn to deal with nervesand will give you more opportunities to practice. It will also help you find a community of students with similar interests who you can study with. Also, the earlier you can start, the better. Some middle schools and even elementary schools have math clubs that expose you to tricky problem-solving questions in a way your standard math classes will not. What Should You Do the Night Before a Competition? After all your preparation, you don't want to trip at the finish line and ruin all your hard work right before the competition. Don’t do tons of studying the night before you take the AMC. By that point, you will have done all of the work you can. Focus on relaxing and getting in the right mindset for the exam. Also, make sure you get enough sleep the night before, and follow our other tips for the night before a test. Don’t waste all of your hard work studying by staying up late the night before! Finally, make sure you are set to go in the morning with transportation and directions to where you are taking the test. You don’t want to deal with a morning-of crisis! Plan to get to the exam center early in case you hit traffic or any other last-minute snags. What’s Next? Curious about the math scores it takes to get into top tech schools like MIT and CalTech? Read more about admission to engineering schools. Going for a perfect math SAT or ACT score? Get tips from our full-scorer on how to get to a perfect 800 on SAT math or a perfect 36 on ACT math. Wondering about paying for college? Check out automatic scholarships available for high ACT and SAT scores. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Budget cuts on education in california Research Paper

Budget cuts on education in california - Research Paper Example Now one might ask why this would be caused. Budgets cuts are affecting students the most. They are paying for less and because of the cuts campuses are stretching their resources. As the state continues to reduce funding levels, the system will most likely continue to raise fees for the operational costs of the schools. (Newell) The combination of rising unemployment, declining consumer spending, declining asset values, and foreclosures has led to declining state revenues. And the number of people in poverty is growing, adding costs to state budgets for programs such as Medicaid and social services. Education is by far the largest component of state budgets. Some 46 percent of all state general fund expenditures is devoted to elementary, secondary, and higher education.(Johnson) According to Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, California is reducing funds towards K-12 education as well as reducing the length of the school year. Doing this is thought to lower the misfortunes of the recession, as well as giving us a kick start in improving our debt. Now this is an argument for why cutting school will be beneficial to the state of California. Unfortunately, what also goes along cutting education is the money given to students who are unable to fully pay tuition. Therefore, the state of California has also decided to cut grants which in turn will lower the chances of many intelligent individuals who suffer from poverty to enroll in a well known University. Both of Californias public college systems raised their fees recently. California State University trustees approved a 5 percent increase for next semester, and University of California regents passed an 8 percent increase for fall 2011.Those hikes are on top of repeated increases over the past few years (Guerra). With all these cuts and rising tuition this will cause a major downfall in the uprising of many intelligent individuals. California will fall back on education and this will

ITECFINAL Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

ITECFINAL - Essay Example For instance, on its initial launch, users need to register for an account prior to do online shopping for insurance plans. There was a design flaw that was provoking uncertainty to the website visitors/users and hence was imposing a serious error in user e-commerce experience. Moreover, the design was constructed by non-technical personnel without any knowledge of how the website will utilize technology available at backend. It is astonishing that the user can access all the contents of the website without registration and the website should not degrade its performance when a large number of users trying to purchase health insurance. However, for a federal function website, 700, 000 is not a massive number in terms of other federal or government website visitors. Moreover, if we compare the number of visitors with some other popular social networking sites, they have billions of daily visitors. Likewise, the integration of this site with the other sites such as Internet Revenue Serv ice and the Department of Veteran affairs has severely affected its navigation response. Moving forward, the website needs to validate information from different interfaces of other systems that are using old technology, there is a dependency that needs to be sorted in the design phase of this website. Currently, the delay occurring on these old systems is reflecting on the website and end user is suffering. Secondly, there is one more issue that adds more problems for the end users i.e. data corruption that has already been identified and it is increasing day by day. The data submitted by the end users is submitted to insurance companies via and they have already reported about receiving bad data, as there are issues in dependent classifications etc. As already more than fifty vendors were working on different areas of this site, glitches were expected. Experts concludes that the project was not handled to perfection and

The economic problem and how different groups attempt to solve it Essay Example for Free

The economic problem and how different groups attempt to solve it Essay The economic problem can be described as attempting to satisfy the unlimited and ever changing wants of the consumer with limited resources. As these wants can never be satisfied, all individuals, businesses and governments are faced with the choice of what to obtain with those resources. As each consumer groups wants and resources varies greatly, each deals with trying to solve the economic problem in a different way. The choices made by each individual are unique, depending on income, age, gender, living situations, education, voting, retirement and personal expectations. In order to deal with the economic problem, individuals must show preference for one good or service over another and be prepared to sacrifice many of the things that they desire. The individual must also plan how much of his/her income they will spend and how much they will save. This ratio can be difficult to establish and can change at any time. Each individual is faced with the economic problem many times daily, and will continue to be faced with the challenge of choices. Businesses too face the economic problem, but on a more complex level than the individual. A company must first decide what area of business that they will specialise in order to generate the most success. As businesses have limited resources they must focus these on a product or service that will hopefully generate a profit in order to continue operating. Once that is decided, the company must first price the product and then try to allocate its resources (land, labour, capital or enterprise) in order to maximise efficiency. In order to minimise costs, a company may have to choose between quality and quantity which can lead to difficult decisions purchasing equipment, employing/ paying reliable employees and obtaining supplies. Unlike the individual, a business must also contend with the problem of industrial relations, such as wages, contracts, managing employees and union agreements, creating more choices and intensifying the economic problem. The Government not only faces the economic problem itself, but can influence the choices of both individuals and businesses by placing taxes on some items (making them more expensive and generating revenue) or making some goods and services cheaper. Governments also have the power to restrict and  regulate economic behaviour by prohibiting some behaviours and enforcing fines. The choices a government makes in answer to the economic problem have large implications on the community they serve. A national Government for instance, may choose to concentrate on defence plans and forgo other areas such as education. Although this satisfies the immediate wants, in the future it may lead to low economic activity, affecting the entire nation. Governments often find this a problem when trying to be more popular with voters (the individual consumer). The Government has the largest influence on the economy; therefore careful consideration must take place when making choices in response to the economic problem. Although individuals, businesses and governments all come across the economic problem in different ways, the only way to deal with it is resource allocation: choosing what to spend the limited resources in order to gain maximum satisfaction. This is often organised as a budget, whether within a household or the Governments National Budget for the year. However this is only a way of dealing with the problem, it does not solve it. As the wants of consumers are unlimited and ever changing, they can never be satisfied with the limited resources of the consumer or group. A budget simply aims to make the best choices, taking the wants and resources into account.

Philosophical-Anthropological Approach to Historic-Cultural Research :: Philosophy Anthropology Essays

Philosophical-Anthropological Approach to Historic-Cultural Research ABSTRACT: This approach holds that the problem of humanity determines the history of culture. On the basis of theory developed by Max Scheler, I try to work out the main characteristics of cultural process, the typology of culture, and the periodization of culture. The humanities in Russia are in the midst of a methodological crisis now, and I hope that this approach will help us obtain a fuller understanding of culture. There's not a secret that Russian Humanities are in a methodological crisis now. Our scientists look for new Methods and Approaches using the Conceptions of Western Science. Among them American Anthropology is the most popular in the last years throughout the World. Philosophers are interested in "Ecological Anthropology" which learns the adaptation of people to environment especially (see: Sahlin M. Evolution: specific and general// Theory in Anthropology. Manners R., Paplan D. (eds). Chicago.1968; Hatch E. The growth of economics, subsistence and ecological studies in American Anthropology// Journal of Anthropological Reseach. Vol.29.1973). Many American scientists prefer the neoevolution Method with the analyses of Race, Nation and others ethnic or social groups (see, for example: Lazlo E. Evolution: The Grans Syntethesis. Boston.1987). Among new approaches we can see some connected with Psychology. (See: Bock Ph.K. Rethinking Psychological Anthropology. N.Y. 1988; Berry J., Poort inga Y., Legall M., Dasen P. Cross-Cultural Psychology: Research and Applications. Cambridge, 1992; Cole M. Cultural Psychology. Cambridge, 1996; Coult A.D. Psychodelic Anthropology. Philadelphia, 1997 and others). The authors write about identification of Person, "socialization" and "culturalization" of children, about "ethological" method, which helps us to understand the interaction between Person and Society. Psychological Anthropology takes the first place in working out the theme "Culture and Personality" now, but it resolves this theme in the direction of Man adaptation to the modern Society. There is, however, the Conception, in which the development of Culture seems to be depended on the solution of the Problem of Person-"new Philosophical Anthropology". My special interest is connected, first of all, with this Conception as a Theory of Culture. New Philosophic Anthropology is well developed in Western Science, but practically unknown in Russia. Our philosophers only begin to study the Conception of it's founder-Max Scheler (see: Max Scheler. Izbranniye proizvedeniya. M., 1994;). Max Scheler created the global Theory of the historical Process as a penetration of Man into his own substance, as a permanent search for "selfness", "independent being into itself". Philosophical-Anthropological Approach to Historic-Cultural Research :: Philosophy Anthropology Essays Philosophical-Anthropological Approach to Historic-Cultural Research ABSTRACT: This approach holds that the problem of humanity determines the history of culture. On the basis of theory developed by Max Scheler, I try to work out the main characteristics of cultural process, the typology of culture, and the periodization of culture. The humanities in Russia are in the midst of a methodological crisis now, and I hope that this approach will help us obtain a fuller understanding of culture. There's not a secret that Russian Humanities are in a methodological crisis now. Our scientists look for new Methods and Approaches using the Conceptions of Western Science. Among them American Anthropology is the most popular in the last years throughout the World. Philosophers are interested in "Ecological Anthropology" which learns the adaptation of people to environment especially (see: Sahlin M. Evolution: specific and general// Theory in Anthropology. Manners R., Paplan D. (eds). Chicago.1968; Hatch E. The growth of economics, subsistence and ecological studies in American Anthropology// Journal of Anthropological Reseach. Vol.29.1973). Many American scientists prefer the neoevolution Method with the analyses of Race, Nation and others ethnic or social groups (see, for example: Lazlo E. Evolution: The Grans Syntethesis. Boston.1987). Among new approaches we can see some connected with Psychology. (See: Bock Ph.K. Rethinking Psychological Anthropology. N.Y. 1988; Berry J., Poort inga Y., Legall M., Dasen P. Cross-Cultural Psychology: Research and Applications. Cambridge, 1992; Cole M. Cultural Psychology. Cambridge, 1996; Coult A.D. Psychodelic Anthropology. Philadelphia, 1997 and others). The authors write about identification of Person, "socialization" and "culturalization" of children, about "ethological" method, which helps us to understand the interaction between Person and Society. Psychological Anthropology takes the first place in working out the theme "Culture and Personality" now, but it resolves this theme in the direction of Man adaptation to the modern Society. There is, however, the Conception, in which the development of Culture seems to be depended on the solution of the Problem of Person-"new Philosophical Anthropology". My special interest is connected, first of all, with this Conception as a Theory of Culture. New Philosophic Anthropology is well developed in Western Science, but practically unknown in Russia. Our philosophers only begin to study the Conception of it's founder-Max Scheler (see: Max Scheler. Izbranniye proizvedeniya. M., 1994;). Max Scheler created the global Theory of the historical Process as a penetration of Man into his own substance, as a permanent search for "selfness", "independent being into itself".