Preparing for Exam 2

1. Important topics and theorems
I think that the most important theorems and topics for the exam are the basic theorems about ideals. These seem to encompass everything we have talked about so far. I also believe that the theorems about F[x]/(p(x)), like Thms. 5.7 - 5.9, 5.11, and (of course) the theorems that you have mentioned--like the "named" theorems in the book, as well as the theorems we need to know well.

2. Better understanding
I need to work on better understanding chapters four and five. Although chapter six is difficult for me, I am starting to grasp it better. It was really hard for me to understand and comprehend the structure and the theorems regarding F[x]. I think we talked about it abstractly, so it was hard for me to "picture." I have been studying and really trying to understand the fundamentals about the polynomial rings. Hopefully my studying will pay off and I will be able to grasp the information and the characteristics. F[x] mod p(x) is extremely difficult for me to understand. I think that "modding out" by p(x) still doesn't make sense to me.

3. Wednesday class
I would like to do a homework problem that we haven't done before from sections 4.3 or 4.4--maybe a problem about proving irreducibility from sec. 4.3 and numbers 15 or 18 in section 4.4. I would also like to see a few more examples about the congruence classes/elements of F[x]/(p(x)). Visualizing it would help me a lot.