I'm going to be a senior this year, which mean's im on my search for college. This book is great for the in depth details but probably isnt the best... I like the princeton review alot better. This thing gives you the basic facts, but the Princeton gives you the student's opinions on the college. But anyhow, this is a great guide that just about every major college you could think of for a reference. I also like the "competitive" rankings that it has- to see how hard the school actually is. But i think this book needs to be on a more personal level than just spitting out the facts you could find on any online site.

If you are looking for the best kept secret in American colleges, look no further than West Point. And, if you want to know why, this guidance councillor says you should read "West Point: Character Leadership Education" by Norman Thomas Remick. End of story. Period.

Well, it was a very interesting book from what i have read. Yet, I have an exam tomorrow and i need the summarization for it. So frankly i dont care about the book.

This book is great. Great book to read for the mellenium

One of the best things about sonnets is that they are one of the most formal types of poetry. Whether you are talking English/Elizabethan/Shakespearean or Italian/Petrarchean, Spenserian or Miltonic, there are strict rules regarding rhyme schemes and stanzas that help students analyze sonnets (or write their own). James K. Lowers looks at Shakespeare's sonnets, and while he does not get into the formal structure as much as I would like, he does an excellent job of analyzing them as a group, finding commons themes and such. This Cliff's Notes volume begins with "A Briefly Survey of Sixteenth-Century Sonnets," looking at Sir Thomas Wyatt, the Earl of Surrey, Sir Philip Sidney and other English poets who were responsible for bringing the form to England and adapting it to a language that does not end with as many vowels as Italian. Lowers provides background on the composition dates for Shakespeare's sonnets and what that means for their order and arrangement, as well as touching on the question of their autobiographical nature. There are longer sections devoted to "The Fair Young Man," "The Dark Lady" and "The Rival Poet," as well as a section on the dominant themes found throughout the sonnets and other facets of interest. Individual sonnets are considered in terms of imagery, poetry as sound, the texture of a poem, shifting imagery, diction, structure, etc., so you can use these poems to teach literary concepts as well. As someone who has essentially no poetic soul whatsoever, I found Lowers' notes especially helpful, particularly when it came to annotating theses sonnets with regards to time and place. Also, showing the "sonnet scenes" from the film "Sense and Sensiblity" got the cherubs interested in Shakespeare's sonnets as love poetry.

I used a variety of sonnets at my high school speech contest for my poetry contest. As hard as shakespeare is to understand, and interpret, i needed some help. I bought the cliffs notes to help me. They helped me understand so much. I would have been lost without them. Besides summarizing the sonnet, the Cliffsnotes provided real insight to the interpretation and meaning of Good ol' Willy. When we had discussions in english class, i already knew everything. But they were the most help to me when i competed with them. Without them, i could not have been state champion in Poetry last year...the four dollars you pay is so worth it. I would have payed forty. If you need any help at all to understanding the beautiful language of the Shakespeare, these Cliffsnotes will do that for you.

This is a good book, as all are by Mr. Kendris. It has everything you need to know about grammer in Spanish. The only reason I gave it four stars was because some of his explanations are hard to understand and seem to not make sense. For example, when explaining the direct object pronouns, he said that "lo" is generally used instead of "le" to mean "you" in Latin American countries, but before that he failed to even mention that you use "le" to mean "you" in Spain! Otherwise, it is great if you are serious about learning Spanish.

I have been looking all over the internet and in bookstores to find a Spanish grammar book that was just simply GRAMMAR... no exercises or cultural tips. This book is small, but it has all the points that I get confused about in AP Spanish. It also has a section in the back that covers idioms, and it even has synonyms of common Spanish verbs! I'm thinking about getting to Grammar Card and the Spanish Verb book to use with this book.

Some books are hard to follow. "The Grapes of Wrath" is long, but entrancing. Finishing it more a matter of time than struggle.

Granted, Steinbeck's description of the immense dust overtaking Oklahoma might seem overdone, but it sets the environment from which Tom Joad is leaving. It puts the grape fields in perspective.

Read "Cliff Notes" if you're in a jam, and need to get the gist of the real book in your system. However, if you have the time, read all 600+ pages of Steinbeck's magnificent story. Be engaged by Joad and his tender family as they plod across America and into dire and complex California grape fields.

I recommend Steinbeck's the Grapes of Wrath (Cliffs Notes) as an addition to the full book, not as a replacement.

Anthony Trendl

Along with reading this very tedious but thrilling novel, Cliffs Notes help the experience greatly by offering insight and added understanding into The Grapes of Wrath. With a complete character list and Chapter reviews, the reading becomes even more exciting with Cliffs Notes at your side!! Cliffs also explains the confusing and foreshadowing intercalary chapters in full, vivid detail. Cliffs also gives the background of Steinbeck himself, so the reader knows the reasons for Steinbeck writing in the style that he does. I suggest to read the Cliffs Notes to gain FULL AND COMPLETE understanding of this famous and thrilling work of literature!

Here is the description the authors provide for the book: "This book aims to introduce managers to the trends leading to the creation of the virtual organization, as well as to concentrate on the better-known aspects of the concept, such a telecommuting, outsourcing, and strategic partnerships, which are in use today."

The definitional analysis of virtual organizations find little commonality beyond new structures that are faciliatated by improved telecommunications technologies, harnessing various forms of greater organizational flexibility, and requiring a higher level of trust to operate effectively. That's another way of saying that no two virtual organizations are the same. Nor should they be, because everyone company's situation is different.

The authors point out that the concept is not new. Companies like Nike have been employing this approach for many years.

The book goes on to explore the stalls that delay progress toward and in a virtual organization (such as problems in setting up successful alliances), dangers of having a virtual organization (especially the uncertainty and stress that it creates for employees and contract workers), and the irresistible forces at work that create demand for such an organization (globalization, technological trends, and volatile markets).

The book has a number of case histories that are effective in elucidating the authors' points.

The book also provides a useful personal developmental planning summary for your consideration while working in or with a virtual organization.

The book ends with a checklist to help you prepare for the future in this area. You will not need such an organization when there is no strategic fit with potential partners, you have all of the core competencies you need inside already, trust-sharing would be very difficult to create, there is a high probability of losing strategic knowledge, or the project is ill-defined.

Due to its brevity, the book can do little more than provide an overview of where the structure has been and why it has evolved that way. I graded the book down one star for having an overly narrow focus to be a fully useful introduction to the subject.

The perspective on the future evolution of virtual organizations is too limited to be of much value. That is a subject that Carol Coles and I address in The Irresistible Growth Enterprise, if you are interested in more.

The book is certainly a good overview of the subject if you have never seen a virtual organization. On the other hand, you could learn more in an hour by visiting one and seeing how it operates from the inside out than you could by reading this book. If you are truly interested, go visit three or more such organizations. Then, you can use this book to give you a framework for thinking about which aspects of a virtual organization could make sense for your organization. At that point, you will want to review books more specifically aimed at aspects of the problem, such as creating alliances, improving communications, and so forth.

Good luck in becoming more virtual!

I found this book to be an excellent aid for a MBA assignment I had to do in regards to the virtual workplace.

The book covers everything you need to know about the virtual organisation from defining what a virtual organisation is, through to preparing for the future.

The book explains how and why the virtual organisation has come about along with it's advantages and disadvantages and of course the all important question of managing the virtual employee.

The authors are very concise and there is excellent use of bullet points, checklists and summaries. This is an excellent starting point to gaining a good understanding of the virtual organisation and thoroughly recommended.

In the mid-1800s, Andersen wrote many original fairy tales. He has many common themes however to the stories that had been passed down for generations. This story is of a young girl sent away by her evil stepmother. She then must rescue her eleven brothers from the spell that has been placed upon them. In a dream, a fairy came to her and gave her the answer. So after, a king falls in love with her at first sight. This tale is a bit lengthy and has a few passages of irrelevant information, but because the reader feels an emotional attachment to the girl so quickly, attention never waivers. The watercolor illustrations help to support the text, but at times do not have very much contrast, giving them a murky feel. Second graders would be able to read the text; however it may take until fourth grade for children to be able to do it in one sitting.

Why 4 stars?:
Some passages in the story can get a bit lengthy. Although the text is written on a second grade level, it may take a while before students can read this in one sitting. However, they will definitely listen to it, as the characters are very captivating. The illustrations are a little muddy though.

I have owned this book since I was a yong child and has always been one of my favorites. It has all of the trimmings, a wickid step mother and all!

Holden Caulfield is an untypical character, scandalously believed to be the epitome of teenage angst. Subjects of his kind are few and far between and worshipers of his ethos contradict themselves with un-Holden-like gestures of 'coolness' and materialism. No wonder Salinger 'pukes', as he might put it, at his cult following, ALMOST the antithesis of what he was trying to promote.(PR)I met a girl outside a nightclub with an American accent. "Have you read 'The Catcher in the Rye'?, I asked. "Yes!!!!", she replied, "I spent a time being in love with Holden Caulfield!". I was pleased, but then she tried to shake my hand in a stylised 'cool' manner. I tried to respond but failed...oh...but she turned on me; "Hey, get with it, man!", and walked off, not annoyed, but none too impressed...the point is 'The Catcher in the Rye' is a comment on society. It is densely planned but sounds like the simply written diary of a complicated, compassionate, emotional person. It is hilarious and tragic, the author engaging one in a seemingly non-technical rollercoaster of truth, of the way life should be and the way people could be. There is no effect of Salinger distancing the reader with any form of over-stylised excess. Holden is talking TO you, not at you. He becomes the reader's friend.(PR) This is no adolescent book: it is universal and for anybody who has sense and compassion enough to understand: the adolescent eyes of Holden Caulfield are used simply as a means of making the point: he hasn't enter the world so his plight becomes more powerful. He doesn't want to because he is more mature...ironically.(PR) The Vespers of wit clothe the more sombre truth in a short, to-the-point novel, written by a perfectionist with no frills, about a man who so longs for an escape route from imperfection. Joseph Zachary Humphries (jzh1ugs@bolton.ac.uk),Bolton, England.

I first read this book when I was a sophomore in high school. I remember myself drawn into it then but after I finished it I thought it was fun but didn't quite think it a classic. Recently, I had felt a need to escape my everyday life and the idea of taking off from my job, roommates, life really appealed to me so I picked up this book again. I read it little bits and pieces and treasured each moment. I really identify with Holden a lot mre now after being in the world for a little bit. Salinger's observations through Holden are interesting and his digressions make for great reads. But what I noticed this time around almost above everything else is the intense and sharp humor of the book. I found myself several times laughing out loud. The book is really funny. Holden's observations are so true, it's just funny. The humor relies on behavior instead of jokes and I think at 24, I've observed more behavior and appreciate the humor. The relationships Holden has a very touching and interesting too. I felt that he was more similar in this regard to an early twenty something than a high schooler, but I think early twenty-somethings are a lot more "phony" than holden so he works better as a high schooler. It's a good book. I want to read it again.

The book "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger is an excellent comming of age novel. You see the world through the eyes of the main character, Holden Caulfield. Salinger uses swirls his unique characters into his "stream of concious" writing style. The blend of Holden's tangents and his simplistic observations of other people serve as a source of comedy and sadness.
Holden is a unique character in himself. He observes other people's "phony" actions and ridicules them for it, when at the same time Holden is not perfect by any means. I think the idea of seeing your self, and self-actuality are two of the novel's main themes. Holden is one of the most prominent protagonists in contemporary literature because he is so easily realted to. His hardships of adolescense can apply to almost every teenage in today's world. The struggle for a purpose in life is one of the biggest challenges that people face, and I think the novel shows one way that a lot of people handle it.
This novel is one of the best books in American contemporary literature because it carries so many themes and ideas about life that everyone can relate to.

Atlas Shrugged isn't the best written book around, and Ayn Rand's position isn't perfectly thought through, but it holds the essence of some very good sentiments, and as I imagine she didn't write it simply to amuse, if you can pull from it some applicable ideas, you'd be well off.

I would never suggest that someone follow Ayn Rand's Objectivist position in its purity, I mean, unless you really believe that anyone who fails deserved it, and that there's enough to go around for everyone, even after you've gobbled up everything you can. But while she takes her position to the level of world domination and grants her characters the credit of having complete control of their destinies, (she completely disregards the impact of environment on a person's situation, and their attitudes towards life and everything in it) she also understands what very few people know: that the only path to self-respect and honest pride is to hold yourself to the standard of the rational being. I mean, once you reach a certain level of awareness, you can't pretend that you matter for magical or superstitious reasons (I'm including religion in that, sorry), you can't even really pretend that there's a greater fate for you than the grave, but you also can't let go of that sense that you matter, that you're worth looking up to, worth being remembered. So the only way to keep that sense of worth and meaning is to earn it, and the only way to earn it is to succeed, or at least to try your honest best to succeed.

This is where Rand's contempt for the masses comes in, because she, like anyone who sees their situation rationally, is offended by people who are incapable of navigating through their life, of exerting control over it. She's offended simply because that control is there to be exerted, so, she reasons, of course they deserve what they get, if they fail to exert it. The problem I have with this, which is where I think many people have taken exeption to Rand's philosophy, is that there is some merit to compassion, and her philosophy leaves no room for it, simply because she believes that we all have perfectly free wills. I think this is a somewhat out-dated idea, at least in the intellectual community, but at the time that she was writing, the idea of determinism was less accepted. However, today, I think people are beginning to understand that someone who is homeless might just have a history worth factoring in before you go and decide that only an idiot could get themselves homeless. That history might very well include NOT learning certain "simple" life lessons (very simple when you're raised by an adult who knows enough to fill you in), such as "you're not worthless", or "hard work can achieve most anything".

Rand doesn't forgive anyone for just being a human being, not so different from an ape, just one step removed really. But we can be more than an ape, if we choose to be, and THAT is where she is correct. Just don't fall into the trap of letting that idea justify stepping on others simply because they haven't seen, or learned, what you have, or because their experiences and life haven't prepared them to cope with the difficulties of facing Ayn Rand's ultimatum.

So read the book, but don't go all or nothing on it, because it doesn't have it all, but it does have something worth gleaning.

Reading Atlas Shrugged in high school 25 years ago woke me up. For the first time, I realized that there were other people in the world who actually thought about what makes the world go round. She helped me understand (through extremely long and convoluted speaches by the main characters sometimes) that there is nothing wrong with doing what's right for it's own sake, that making a profit is a good thing (remember, this was the 70's) and that a man can stand up for what he thinks is right. To one's own self be true, always act in a responsible manner, believe in yourself first and foremost. This author changed my life with this book. I read it again every 5 years or so. It's not the most well written book in the world, but it contains the most meaningful message of any I've ever read. Read this book. Form your own opinions. Think for yourself about where you fit in the world. Thank the stars for teachers like Nadine Royer who first encouraged me to pick up this 5 pound eye-opener.

That is one of the themes of one of the 20th centuries most important books. Atlas Shrugged asks a most basic question: Is a human being a free creature, entitled to interact with his fellow creatures only in voluntary relationships based on mutually agreed values. Or is he a slave, to be owned, used and allocated by others based not on his own values but on theirs. Ayn Rand explores how the concept of an entitlement, whether to material goods or love and respect, inevitably lead to force, violence, corruption and human degradation
The characters drawn could be considered somewhat cardboard; the heroes being strong of chin and clear of eye and the villains shifty, weak and absorbed by fear. However, compared to Phil Donohue or Maxine Waters, Rand's characters begin to assume unexpected depth.
Rand's most subtle insight concerns the corruption of communication by authoritarian movements: words used not to enlighten but to confuse, realities denied so long as no one utters the obvious truth. Atlas Shrugged presaged the Clinton Administration by 40 years.
Contrary to the impression above, this is a novel of action and plot. The story is riveting, well told and fast paced. Atlas Shrugged is the hardest to put down 1000 page novel you'll ever read.
Rand was a refugee from the Soviet Union. There she saw evil in it's purest form and has written a book clearly delineating the essential characteristics. Characteristics present, not only in that society, but also in ours.

The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, published by The Berkley Publishing Group (1954) is an action filled book about some schoolboys' struggle for survival after their plane went down on a deserted island.
After the boys are stranded on the island it becomes evident that surviving will be like no other task they have ever undertaken. They learn to fend for themselves by trapping and killing animals, building shelters with branches and by learning how to use their surroundings in the quest for survival. From the very beginning there is tension over who is the leader. It comes down to which candidate has more appealing priorities, playing and hunting all-day or trying to get rescued by keeping a fire alive. While in the hunt for food the boys become total savages, to the extent where they even wage war against each other.
In my eyes the message is that there is a savage in all of us and it comes out the minute we are faced with extreme hardships. The author does not only use the actions of the boys to show the changes that have occurred, but he also uses visual imagery to show their physical changes. For example, in the beginning of the book the boys are well-dressed clean-cut shorthaired boys; however, by the end of the book they are dirty, longhaired animals. Also, to add to their already dirty look, the boys paint their faces to camouflage themselves when they go hunting. The way the boys changed in appearance reflects how they're losing their civilized upbringing.
In my opinion the novel Lord of the Flies was a great book especially for children around my age because it is easy for us to identify with what the kids in the book are going through. Even though I found this novel very exciting and engaging, I would never hope to be put in such a position as the boys in the story were.

Can we really "trace the defect of society back to the defect of human nature"? This book was written in an attempt to find out. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding shows us, naked and exposed, at once innocent and corrupt, noble and cruel, and all to human. He uses symbols, theories, and ideas to help illustrate his point. For example, the female sow, represents the mother of the boys - the killing of the sow symbolizes the killing of the mother. The roles of the three main characters are different; Ralph being the ego (self knowledge), Piggy being the superego (conflict between thoughts) and Jack being the id (want). Lord of the Flies uses symbolism so well, that it is understandable, interesting to read, and catching. The writing in this book is structured so well. I was able to understand what he wrote, and I was hooked. What I liked best about this book was the clarity of it, the style of his writng and the plot of the story. His writing is also very specific. I was able to put pictures in my mind about what was being said - {Over the Island the build up of clouds continued. A steady current of heated air rose all day from the mountain and was thrust to ten thousand feet; revolving masses of gas piled up the static until the air was ready to explode}-this is an excerpt from chapter nine. It is obvious that his style of writing is excellent and should be highly acknowledged. It deserves a 5 star rating. Lord of the Flies is a wonderful, symbolic, adventure into ritual, primitivness, death, guilt, innocence, betrayal, and war. Only then, will you find the answer to the question, "can we trace the defect of society back to the defect of human nature"?

Although it is a social commentary, similar to "Heart of Darkness," containing a pessimisstic view of human nature, "Lord of the Flies" is also an adventure novel. A scatter of British schoolboys are stranded on an island paradise, and they form a little ordered assembly, which, according to the rules of Murphy's Law, goes to pi. It is a stark, beautiful book, which near perfect writing. What do I mean by this? It's not just well-written, but it is perfectly focused, perfectly edited. Think of the Western "High Noon." Every line of dialogue was key in revealing the plot. There was no one standing around and just explaining things, like in "The Great Gatsby." Things are expounded through actions, through thought, so that every word has meaning, and every meaning, entertainment value. I'm surprised at those who found it boring. I can't offer any persuasion -- you have to be willing to read it, and it won't appeal to everyone. But the reason this book is so terribly disturbing is that it is so >realistic<. Not to give away any major plot happenings, but recent (within the last year or so) news events only make some of the more grisly things in the book seem closer to home, and therefore more unsettling, which is maybe why a lot of readers found it too shocking to appreciate. Just try not to think about the symbols when you first read it, and think of it as an adventure book. It can be enjoyed either way.