Reading 1

Unit 4- Reading 1

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Who Are You?

Imagine that you read the following story in your local newspaper. Yoshi Tanaka was injured at the Pacifica Café when the chair he was sitting on broke. Angelo Manzoli said his career is ruined. Carlos Armada claimed that Tanaka was to blame. Fred Katz said his crew helped transport the 450-pound man to a hospital. Ahmed Nadel said Tanaka was not seriously hurt.

Who are these people? If we give each a title, the ambiguous story becomes easier to understand. Sumo wrestler Yoshi Tanaka was injured at the Pacifica Café when the chair he was sitting on broke. His trainer, Angelo Manzoli, said his career is ruined. Carlos Armada, owner of the café, claimed that Tanaka was to blame. Fire Chief Fred Katz said his crew helped transport the 450-pound man to a hospital. Physician Dr. Ahmed Nadel said Tanaka was not seriously hurt.

GROUPS

Throughout our lives, and even during a single day, we are part of many groups. These groups might include a family, an orchestra, a team, a business, a school, a country, or even a temporary group such as the people affected by a café accident.

TITLES

Within a group, titles help differentiate one person from another. Each person is an integral part of many different groups, so each person has many titles. For instance, a man might be an engineer, a husband, a father, a son, a brother, the coach of his son’s baseball team, a tennis club member, a conservative voter, and an Internet chat room visitor. The title engineer defines his status within the context of employment. The titles husband, father, son, and brother define his status within the context of family.

ADDRESSING OTHERS

Titles also provide guidelines whereby people know how to address others. At work, the engineer’s co-workers call him Jim, but people who phone his company will ask to speak to Jim Wilson. His wife calls him Honey, and his children call him Dad. His mother still calls him Jimmy, a childhood nickname. and his brother affectionately calls him Jimbo. The baseball team kids call him Coach Wilson. His tennis partner calls him Wilson. Mail he receives from his political party is addressed to Mr. James Wilson. On the Internet, he’s known as J.W.

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

Rules for how people address each other vary from one culture to another. In Japanese culture, for example, only family and close friends call someone by his or her given name. It is considered rude to call someone byjust his family name. A family name must be followed by the title —san, so Mr. or Ms. Tanaka is known as Tanaka-san. when addressing someone of a higher status, often no name is used. Instead this person is addressed by his or her title, such as teacher or company president.

JOB TITLES

The title company president clearly refers to the leader of a company. Among its employees, a company differentiates between the types of workers via job titles like lab technician, secretary, or department supervisor. A person’s job title also serves as an Index (or measure) of his or her status within the company. Employees with a higher status are usually paid a higher salary. Similarly, if an employee earns a raise in salary, he or she is often given a newjob title.

LEADERS’ TITLES

The leader of a group of people almost always has a title. For instance. clubs have presidents, teams have captains, committees have chairmen or chairwomen, stores have managers, fire departments have chiefs, and schools have principals. Every civil leader has a title. too, though these vary somewhat depending on a country’s system of government. These titles include prime minister, president, governor, sultan, and king. when official meetings convene, the leaders are addressed in a formal style. such as Madam President or Governor Ramos.

INHERITED TITLES

Some titles are acquired by inheritance. These include the royal male titles king, emperor, and sultan and their analogous female titles queen, empress, and sultana. Leaders of tribes and clans may inherit titles such as khan, sheikh, and chief. A given name plus the inherited title usually constitute their public names, such as King Faisal or Queen Elizabeth. Often they are addressed in special ways, like Your Highness.

MILITARY TITLES

Titles are especially important in the military, where authority is channeled from top to bottom via a strict chain of command. A common ranking system in armies begins at the top with the title field marshal or general, and ends with the lowest rank of soldier. Titles are important tools that help us understand the status of members within human groups.