Death and its effects Essay Example for Free

Death and its effects Essay There is a certain sequence to life. We are born, we die and the part in the middle is called life. Everyone must die and every religion in the world seems to have a belief about what happens after death. We can die at any age be it by accident, illness, disease or old age. Unfortunately accidents and disease are quite common and cause much more distress to loved ones than if someone dies of old age. This is because of the order of death which we expect. Most people believe that Grandparents should die first, followed by Parents then finally Children. However, the world does not always work this way, spawning the phrase a parent should never have to bury their child. Accidents can strike someone down at anytime as can illness. When this happens it is usually a shock and the grief caused by this can be dependent on the age if a younger person dies then the shock can be devastating but if someone dies in their twilight years then the shock is greatly reduced as the family is half expecting it and they have led a full life. When someone dies, people cope with it in different ways. Some people cry and sob while others will quietly sit and contemplate. In other instances, people will go into denial and refuse to believe that their loved one is gone. This type of denial is aided by the fact that we do not have to deal with death directly, more often than not we will arrange for a funeral director to plan and take care off everything. Many people tell their loved ones how they feel everyday, this allows them to be secure in that their loved one will not die without them knowing they love them. People do not like for someone to die if they have not told them all that they should have or have ended their last conversation in an argument. They begin to have that underlying feeling of guilt and foreboding. To know that someone knows what you are going through is a great help to the bereaved, friends can come over and offer their support and allow the person to explain how they feel. The whole idea of talking to someone is the basis of therapy and can offer some relief through sympathy/empathy. Funerals, after they have been arranged are often held within the week of the person dying. This is to offer some finality to the whole process and to let the relatives to decide whether they want an open coffin or closed coffin funeral. Funerals vary from one Christian denomination to another but they all have a glimmer of hope in them for the relatives and friends. The hope of eternal life in the presence of God allows the church to help the bereaved deal with their loss by encouraging them to believe that they will be reunited with them after they die. In a funeral, the coffin is carried from its method of transport to the church (this is usually a hearse, but can be a horse-drawn carriage) by the pall-bearers. These are often the male members of the family who were closest to the deceased. I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. (John 11:25-26) The above verses from John 11 are often read. These words are used to comfort the bereaved as they speak of eternal life and love. There are also often hymns, prayers for the person who has died and other Bible readings. The priest will then give a short sermon on the Christian beliefs of life after death. Eulogies are also often read out by a member of the family or a close friend. A eulogy is a short speech about the life of the person who has died. It is traditional to wear black clothing at funerals. This is not required however and some families will request that guests do not dress in this way. A Roman Catholic funeral also includes a Requiem Mass. For this, the priest will wear white vestments and the coffin will be covered in a white pall. The coffin is sprinkled with Holy Water and the priest says: In the waters of baptism (name) died with Christ, and rose with him to new life. May s/he now share with him in eternal glory. The coffin is then sprinkled again and later perfumed with incense. After the funeral, many Christians put on a meal for guests to thank them for coming. In the case of Roman Catholics and many Irish Christians, a wake will be put on. A wake is a small, lively party to celebrate the persons passing into Heaven and their life. Of course, the person who all this was held for does not realise. The deceased person is not really there and only an empty shell remains. There are several different, but equally important reasons for holding a funeral. A funeral marks the ending of a human life, as baptism marks the beginning. It also allows the families to go through the various stages of grief. A funeral lets them see that the person is gone forever, but gives them comfort and support from faith. A funeral is used by Christians to be reminded of one of Christianitys main beliefs there is life after death and that God will give us strength to face up to our sorrow. Graves are also often erected. These graves are permanent markers to the person and can last hundreds of years. It is very interesting to walk around a cemetery and see the impact someone has made on another persons life as some graves have monumental tombstones on them. These come at a huge price and it is amazing to see that someone has paid so much money for something the deceased will never see In Christian terms, there are two places after you die, Heaven and Hell. There is much debate about whether Heaven and Hell are actual places. The Literalists believe it is as the bible clearly mentions it in the New Testament. According to older theories, Heaven is a place where those who are sinless go to be with God and everyone is happy. On the other hand, Hell was meant to be a place of fire and brimstone where everyone suffered for their sins. Now here is where the argument comes in. Many people say that Hell cannot exist because it is impossible for such a loving and forgiving God to create a place of suffering. Some Christians also believe that Heaven and Hell are not so much places as states of mind. Heaven is where you are at peace and can be with God and Hell is where you are confined and isolated from the warmth of Gods love. A modern story of the literal differences between Heaven and Hell goes as follows: A man dies and is greeted by St. Peter at the gates of Heaven. The man asks if he can see both Heaven and Hell before he is judged. St. Peter agrees and an angel escorts the man into a room. In the room, there is a long dining table. The man asks where they are and the angel tells him that they are in Hell. He explains that in both Heaven and Hell, you are treated equally and can eat all your favorite foods from the table on one condition: you must eat them with 6 foot long utensils. The man ponders on this for a moment then asks what the difference is between the two. The angel tells him that in Heaven, people are well fed as they feed one another while the people in Hell starve as they only try to feed themselves and fail. In Christian beliefs about resurrection, the idea that the whole body is resurrected, not just the soul is prominent. Jesus was recognised by St. Peter after his resurrection (see Corinthians 15:35-57), this shows us that when we are resurrected, our new bodies will be recognisable to our family and friends. Jewish beliefs about death are not so different from those of Christianity. Instead of Heaven and Hell, Jews believe that all souls go to Sheol, a shadowy underworld. The Jewish faith also has beliefs on resurrection. According to Maimonides, when the Messiah comes, all the dead will be resurrected and judged. In death, every member of the family is affected. Adults know what is going on, but what about the children. What should we tell them? Many parents explain to their children that whoever has died has gone with the angels. This is often the easiest way as children associate angels with happiness. This reasoning is often why people grow up imagining Heaven to be in the clouds above our Earth and full of angels, it is a remnant of our childhood. However, some parents decide to not tell their children anything. It all depends on the individual child and how they will cope with this new information. Some children can cope with the hard evidence someone has died and isnt going to come back, while others cannot grasp the concept of death until they are much older. All religions have theories on life and death. In the New Age religions, many people believe in the Gaia theory. The Gaia theory was developed many hundreds of years ago and can be found in old texts about the meaning of life. The Gaia theory tells us that the Earth on which we live has a spirit and that all living organisms have their spirit given by Gaia (the Earth spirit). These organisms live their respective lives and soak up their experiences to enrich its spirit. When the organism dies, its spirit returns to Gaia and the experiences it had allow Gaia to create new lives. After looking at several different religions, it is apparent that all have one thing in common the belief that after you die a part of you lives on and returns to something, be it Allah, Gaia or God.

Internal Rate Of Return And Net Present Value Finance Essay

Internal Rate Of Return And Net Present Value Finance Essay In every business, investment appraisal is the very important part. Accounting rate of return (ARR), Payback period (PP), Net present value (NPV), Internal rate of return (IRR), and Profitability index (PI) are the different types of investment appraisal methods. In investment decisions, time is a very vital feature. ARR and PP do not take into consideration the time value of money, and do not give an indication of the amount of capital investment required. NPV, IRR, PI are consider the time value of money and the discounted cash flow techniques. It measures the cash inflows and outflows of a project as if they occurred at a single point in time so that they can be compared in an appropriate way. These are the best methods to use for long-run decisions. Since, IRR and NPV incorporate all the cash flows and time value of money, these criteria can be used to reflect capital investment proposals strategic orientation. It is often assumed that higher is better for both of the net present value and the internal rate of return.   It is usually stated that investments with higher IRR are more profitable than investments with lower IRR. However, this is not essentially so.   In some situations, an investment with a lower IRR may be better, even judged on narrow financial grounds, than an investment with a higher IRR. This interactive lecture explores why and when this reversal takes place. To review, both the NPV and the IRR require the idea of an income stream, so lets start there. An income stream is a series of amounts of money. Each amount of money comes in or goes out at some specific time, either now or in the future.   The income stream represents the investment; the income stream is all you need to know for financial evaluation purposes. In real life, individuals, charitable institutions, and even for-profit businesses have social or other goals when selecting investments.   For businesses, the benefits of community good will are no less real for being difficult to measure precisely.   For enterprises with social as well as financial goals, the measures discussed here are still useful:   They tell you how much it costs you to advance your social goals. In here, FIRMEX Corporation is allowing for undertaking two projects. The two projects will be evaluated using the discounted cash flow methods to decide on, which project is to be selected. Net Present Value (NPV) The Net Present Value analyzes the profitability of a project by discounting all expected future cash inflows and outflows to the present point in time, using the discount rate (Horngren, et al.,1997). Discount rate is the minimum acceptable rate of return on an investment. It is the return that the organization could expect to receive elsewhere for an investment of comparable risk. NPV is a better method of appraising investment opportunities than Accounting rate of return (ARR) and Payback Period (PP), because it takes account of the time value of money and also includes all the relevant cash flows irrespective of when they are expected to occur (McLaney and Atrill, 2002). Appraisal using NPV NPV is positive when the discounted cash inflows exceed the discounted cash outflows, and so a proposal is acceptable if it has a positive NPV. When evaluating two or more mutually exclusive proposals, the one with the highest positive NPV should be accepted. In the given case, NPV of Project B is much higher than that of Project A. So, Project B is preferable. Internal Rate Of Return (IRR) Internal rate of return is another discounted cash flow technique. It is the discount rate at which the present value of expected cash inflows from a project equals the present value of expected cash outflows of the project. That is, IRR is the discount rate yielding a zero NPV (Upchurch, 1998). Appraisal using IRR : A project is accepted only if the internal rate of return exceeds the companys cost of capital. If it is less than the cost of capital, the project should be rejected. While evaluating two competing projects, the one with the higher IRR should be selected. In the given case, we will get two IRR values for Project A, and so this project cannot be evaluated using IRR. Whereas, the IRR of Project B is much higher than the companys cost of capital, and therefore it can be selected. Profitability Index: Profitability index is the total present value of future net cash flows of a project divided by the total present value of the net initial investment (Horngren, 1997). It measures the cash flow return per dollar invested. It is very useful in choosing among projects when the investment funds are limited, because it can identify the projects that will generate the most money from the limited capital available. Conclusion: NPV is the technically superior criteria, because IRR is calculated by trial and error method, and so the results are less precise. Also, IRR do not consider the size of the investment required and the gain/loss which will result from undertaking or not undertaking a project. It is therefore difficult to use IRR for comparing competing proposals, and there is a possibility that both NPV and IRR will give conflicting indications. IRR is also unable to cope with a change in the cost of capital during the life of a project. But, NPV can accommodate such a change. Another problem with IRR is that some projects may have more than one IRR, which makes it a meaningless criterion while evaluating that project. In FIRMEX Corporation, Project A has got two IRR values. So, IRR cannot be used for evaluating this project. The other two criteria, NPV and profitability index are higher for Project B . IRR for Project B is also higher than the companys cost of capital.

Declaration of Independence :: essays papers

Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence is perhaps the most masterfully written document of Western civilization. This essay seeks to illuminate that artistry by probing the discourse microscopically at the level of the sentence, phrase, word, and syllable. By approaching the Declaration in this way, we can shed light both on its literary qualities and on its rhetorical power as a work designed to convince the American colonies they were justified in seeking to establish them as an independent nation. The introduction consists of the first paragraph a single, lengthy, periodic sentence: When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. Taken out of context, this sentence is general it could be used as the introduction to a declaration by anyone. Seen within its original context, however, it is a model of refinement, and suggestion that worked on several levels of meaning and allusion. This orients readers toward a favorable view of America and prepares them for the rest of the Declaration. It dignifies the Revolution as a challenge of principle. The introduction identifies the purpose of the Declaration as simply to ^declare^ to announce publicly in explicit terms the ^causes^ impelling America to leave the British Empire. Rather than presenting one side in a public controversy on which good and decent people could differ, the Declaration claims to do no more than a natural philosopher would do in reporting the causes of any physical event. The issue, it implies, is not one of interpretation, but one of observation. The most important word in the introduction is ^necessary.^ To say an act was necessary implied that it was impelled by fate or determined by the operation of foolproof natural laws. The Revolution was not merely preferable, defensible, or justifiable. It was as inescapable, as inevitable, and as unavoidable within the course of human events as the motions of the tides or the changing of the seasons within the course of natural events. The Revolution, with connotations of necessity, was particularly important because, according to the law of nations, recourse to war was lawful only when it became ^necessary.^ The notion of necessity was important that, in addition to appearing in the introduction of the Declaration, it was invoked twice more at crucial junctures in the rest of the text.

Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of the 2012 graduating class of County High School, I would like to welcome you to our commencement ceremony. As valedictorian of this class I would like to speak to you, and my fellow graduates about responsibility, but first I would like to tell you a little story D.L. Moody told the story of a passenger on an Atlantic steamer who lay in his bunk during a raging storm with a severe case of sea sickness. Suddenly he heard the cry, "Man overboard." "May God help that poor fellow," he prayed, "but there's nothing I can do." Then he thought, "I can at least put my lantern in my small window," and with an effort he did so. The man was finally rescued. In recounting the story the next day, he said, "I was going down in the darkness for the last time when someone put a light in a porthole. It shone on my hand, and a sailor in the lifeboat grabbed it and pulled me in." Weakness is no excuse for not putting forth the little strength we have. Who can tell how God will work? Responsibility is one of the most important things that we have as human beings. We as Christians have much responsibility laid upon us. As citizens of two kingdoms, one earthly, and one heavenly, we all find ourselves with some responsibility to shoulder. No matter who we are, no matter what gender, what nationality, what color, what creed, God has given us as Christians the awesome responsibility to be his witnesses in this world. There are many different excuses people use to try to avoid responsibility. For example, some among us may say, "I am not ready." In 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 15b it says, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." This ... ...to plan for the future, yet to keep your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, because only he can adequately guide our paths, so that we can make the best use of the time, talents, and the responsibility he has given us to be a witness unto (for) him. Now I would like to thank all of those people who have made it possible for us as young adults to be able to take on the responsibility that we have been given. I would like to thank Mr. Mehrtens, Mrs. Barnett, Mrs. Fuentes, Mrs. Miller and all of the other teachers who have come and gone, for all of their hard work and dedication, and also their Christian example. I would also like to thank all of our parents for thinking so much of us that they paid double for our education, and I would also like to thank them for the godly standards they have encouraged us to strive for. Thank you all. Thank you. Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of the 2012 graduating class of County High School, I would like to welcome you to our commencement ceremony. As valedictorian of this class I would like to speak to you, and my fellow graduates about responsibility, but first I would like to tell you a little story D.L. Moody told the story of a passenger on an Atlantic steamer who lay in his bunk during a raging storm with a severe case of sea sickness. Suddenly he heard the cry, "Man overboard." "May God help that poor fellow," he prayed, "but there's nothing I can do." Then he thought, "I can at least put my lantern in my small window," and with an effort he did so. The man was finally rescued. In recounting the story the next day, he said, "I was going down in the darkness for the last time when someone put a light in a porthole. It shone on my hand, and a sailor in the lifeboat grabbed it and pulled me in." Weakness is no excuse for not putting forth the little strength we have. Who can tell how God will work? Responsibility is one of the most important things that we have as human beings. We as Christians have much responsibility laid upon us. As citizens of two kingdoms, one earthly, and one heavenly, we all find ourselves with some responsibility to shoulder. No matter who we are, no matter what gender, what nationality, what color, what creed, God has given us as Christians the awesome responsibility to be his witnesses in this world. There are many different excuses people use to try to avoid responsibility. For example, some among us may say, "I am not ready." In 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 15b it says, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." This ... ...to plan for the future, yet to keep your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, because only he can adequately guide our paths, so that we can make the best use of the time, talents, and the responsibility he has given us to be a witness unto (for) him. Now I would like to thank all of those people who have made it possible for us as young adults to be able to take on the responsibility that we have been given. I would like to thank Mr. Mehrtens, Mrs. Barnett, Mrs. Fuentes, Mrs. Miller and all of the other teachers who have come and gone, for all of their hard work and dedication, and also their Christian example. I would also like to thank all of our parents for thinking so much of us that they paid double for our education, and I would also like to thank them for the godly standards they have encouraged us to strive for. Thank you all. Thank you.

Causes Of World War One :: World War I, WWI

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many things led up to the start of World War I. There was much tension between the countries of Europe for more than fifty years. There were immediate causes, and long-term causes. Some immediate causes were the assassination of the heir of Austria-Hungry, Germany declaring war on Russia, Germany declaring war on France, and Great Britain declaring war on Germany. Some long-term causes or basic causes were imperialism, nationalism, and the arms race. The assassination of Archduke Frances Ferdinand, who was the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was probably the last step on the long road to war. A Serbian patriot murdered Ferdinand in Sarajevo, on June 28 1914. The murder angered Austria-Hungary, leading them to declare war on Serbia. At the same time, Russia gets ready to attack Austria-Hungary as it mobilizes it army at the border. In Europe, there were two powers. The Allied Power were England, France, Russia, and later the U.S. The Central Power was the countries of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria. When Kaiser William II of Germany became cocky and let the treaty between Germany and Russia became invalid, and then Williams declared war unto Russia. France then gets ready to fight Germany as they declare war on them by marching through neutral Belgium. As Germany declares war unto France and Russia, Great Britain declares war on Germany as they go through Belgium. Basic causes included imperialism. Imperialism is a country wanting to take over the world and be the most powerful. The need for raw materials and new markets Europe starts to take over land in Africa, China, India, and Middle East. The fight for obtaining the most land results in European countries fighting over who gets what land. Another factor was nationalism. Nationalism is the love for ones country and feeling your part of the country. It results in each country claiming that they are the best. The Arms Race is another contributing factor to the war. Due to conflicts over land, countries start to prepare for and build up their armies. In conclusion, World War I occurs because of many unresolved factors.

Motif Affairs: The Great Gatsby

Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses the motif of affairs to show development in Daisy Buchanan's character. As a reader slowly pieces together what is the love puzzle of this novel, it becomes clear to them Daisy's true self. Starting off the novel Fitzgerald uses Tom's affairs with Daisy(his wife) and Myrtle(his mistress) to show how Tom treats Daisy. He is very sexist towards not only Daisy but also myrtle. â€Å"Daisy loved me when she married me and she loves me now,†(131) this is said by Tom, giving the reader an example of just how controlling he is of his wife.It is evident to the reader, through the lens of feminism, that Tom objectifies women, treating them like objects rather than people, Daisy especially, making him feel it is acceptable to have more than one woman. This gives the reader a sense of sympathy for Daisy, because of the way her husband treats her. It upsets the reader that although Daisy is aware of her husband's affair with Myrtle, s he ‘accepts' it and feels she deserves it because she is a woman and that's simply what women get.As the novel goes on, it is made clear to the reader Daisy's obsession with money. â€Å"Her voice is full of money†¦ That was it. I‘d never understood before. It was full of money – that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals‘ song of it†¦ High in a white palace the king‘s daughter, the golden girl†¦ â€Å"(120) We learn of an affair in Daisy's past that she had with Gatsby, and that the only reason she married Tom rather than Gatsby was because of Tom's wealth.When this is brought up it refuels old feelings between the two of them, leading to an affair between Daisy and Gatsby. Readers go from feeling bad for Daisy to almost having sympathy for Tom. After accusing Tom of objectifying Daisy and not being loyal to her, it is made clear that daisy is not loyal to Tom. She is not in love with him, but rather his money. Through these recurring affairs and the lens of feminism Daisy's true character is exposed to the reader.

Comparison of the Chinese and American Cultures Essay

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, culture is defined as â€Å"the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations.† Culture is an aspect all groups of humans have and even though it is an aspect our species shares, the supposed differences make it seem like we are of different species! Culture is something that both connects and separates us. Culture is something distinct enough to create barriers among us, such as: linguistic barriers and behavioral barriers. And this is especially seen between the American and Chinese cultures. River Town, by Peter Hessler, is a non-fiction novel that depicts Peter’s experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer in Fuling, China. He was sent to Fuling (a poor town on the banks of the Yangtze River) in 1996 and taught English and American literature for two years at a teachers college. This novel, in reading, seems more of a journal and thus, his writing of China puts the people and his experiences on a more personal level. He describes, with immense detail, his observations of the social, political and cultural issues of China and his experience as a waiguoren (foreigner). At his arrival, the people of the teachers college showered him and his fellow Peace Corps volunteer with many gifts and did everything they could to make them feel comfortable and welcome. However, alternately, whenever Peter would walk outside the campus of the school, the people would stare and gawk at him and yell, â€Å"outsider!† and â€Å"hello† out of curiosity and their own amusemen t. This made him dedicate a large part of his day solely to learning Chinese. As he becomes more proficient in Chinese, he develops friendships and connections and begins to feel more accepted. He talks about the troubled history of China: the struggles of land reform, decades of misguided economic policies and especially the damaging effects of the Cultural Revolution. Peter spends a good deal discussing the, then, upcoming  project of the Three Gorges Dam, which has an immense, detrimental impact on the people. The project will require millions of villagers to be displaced and will destroy centuries worth of meaningful history. The author gives a very vivid illustration of the beautiful landscape, history and the people he meets. He also portrays the, especially political, perspectives of the Chinese quite well through learning from his students and teachers. According to Francis Hsu, the two sets of contrasts are: individual-centered versus situation-centered and the prominence of emotions versus the underplay of all matters regarding the heart. He believed Americans are concerned only of themselves and act according to what would be beneficial to them, and that the Chinese acted according to the situation at hand. The Chinese avoid direct confrontation, open criticism and controversial topics to maintain harmony. â€Å"In America, he saw the blind, often excessive pursuit of self-reliance and the inherent, permanent instability of human relationships as the root cause of many intractable social ills, including crime, racial discord, and the sale of influence in government. In China, he saw the traditional narrow focus on kinship based relationships had rendered their society unable to effectively counter Western colonialism, widespread poverty and famine, and even the practice of foot binding of women.† (Tong 2001) One aspect of the book that really interested me was the education system and different cultural differences of how education is looked upon. In the book, the students all had the same thoughts on almost every issue and those opinions would be unwavering. However, â€Å"Perhaps by my standards they were politically brainwashed, but compared to the past they were remarkably free.† (Hessler 2001:23) They would also communicate indirectly to Hessler; often times via their journals. Not only is the learning environment in China highly competitive and demanding, but expectations are high of students, forcing them to simply learn to achieve the highest grade possible. Also, Chinese students do not have electives they can choose from, they are assigned classes that best correspond to their scores on tests. Whereas in America, individualism and self-expression if looked high upon. Thus, in America, the individual student’s abilities and skills determine  where they go in the future, and in China, what society or their parents want determines where they go. This is exactly what Francis Hsu talked about. I believe Peter Hessler was relatively objective in his journaling. Whenever he brought up thoughts or opinions of his students or any of the Fuling people, he briefly gave the history and background of them so we can understand where they are coming from. However, there were a few times where you could sense his extreme bias, but this was never fully evident in his writing. The difference between American and Chinese homes reflects the contrasting patterns of behavior in the family. In the US, children are highly regarded, cared for and have privilege, so far as to have laws and regulations protecting them. In China, children are taken for granted and have little to no reason to expect protection. Pediatrics was not a branch of medicine in China until just recently. In America, what is important is what parents should do for their parents; in China, what is important is what the children should do for their parents. This is a major reason why Chinese students are so focused on getting the best grades, so they can get a good job and take care of their elders. This is the basis for Filial Piety (virtue of respect for one’s parents and ancestors). American students focus on what is best for them and will usually move out the house at age 18 with no regard to taking care of their elders. Another difference between the two cultures is social relations hips. The Chinese have formal, hierarchal relationships in which they feel most comfortable knowing their position. Americans have informal, egalitarian relationships in which they feel most comfortable among their equals and social ranking is not important. Ironically however, the Chinese tend to have a few, very close friends to whom they feel obligated to when it comes to helping them; Americans tend to have numerous â€Å"friends† and acquaintances that changes over time and to whom they feel no obligations. Works Cited 2001 River Town: Two years on the Yangtze. HarperCollins Publishers. Aguilar, Leslie, and Linda Stokes 1996. Multicultural Customer Service: Providing Outstanding Service Across Cultures. Chicago: Times Mirror Higher Education Group, Inc â€Å"CultureAbout Our Definitions: All Forms of a Word (noun, Verb, Etc.) Are Now Displayed on One Page.† Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2013 Li Qing 1995. â€Å"Face, Guanxi, Houmen(r) & Elastic Rules: Insight into the Chinese Culture.† Presentation at conference of NAFSA: Association of International Educators. Tong, William K. â€Å"Excerpts from Americans & Chinese by Francis Hsu.† Excerpts from Americans & Chinese by Francis Hsu. Oakton Community College, 2001. Web. 22 Apr. 2013