Shopping (especially for LoTR Merchandise)

A couple of you (you know who you are!) have asked me where I have been shopping -
( these are my main sources. Sorry it took so long to get a minute to list them... )

cranky (probably senior) moment

I did very little actual teaching, since I bounced so handily into Library work, then out again into artist's agent and concert production - but everytime I see one of the LoTR communities with a posting like this, I want to smack someone. (not to pick in particular on this kid - it's just that I see similar requests all the time...

ex: from lordoftherings
Now that I've said that.. my teacher wants me to address a few questions which I'm having a little difficulty fully elaborating.

1 - Why do you suppose Tolkien chose to depict war in the form of fantasy?

2 - Why does Tolkien show the USA as trees? (For this one, I'm comparing the US to the Ents since their entrance in the war was done in a similar manner. I don't know why or HOW my teacher wants me to address this question since it's written point blankly in my paper that these are the connections that I am drawing from the novels, not the connections that Tolkien drew. So, how does she expect me to answer this question?)

However, any help would be greatly appreciated. Help on the above to questions or just in connections and parallels that you, yourself, have made between World War II and Lord of the Rings.

I am afraid I translate this as: Someone, please do my real homework for me - you know all that useless thinking and research, and I will then do all the real labor of cutting and pasting your answers into my paper...