1. Let’s revisit the opening story for critical insights. In both conversations, were Peter and Alex merely engaging in friendly teasing or casual jokes? Were both episodes involving language misunderstandings? On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = strongly disagree and 10 = strongly agree, how would you rate either or both episodes as verbal harassment? How so? Given what you know about the transactional model of human communication (see Chapter 1), what would you say to Peter, Alex, and Jessica?

Having learned about the identity complexity and interplay of intercultural and intergroup communication (see Chapter 2), what would you say to Peter, Alex, and Jessica?