Conclusions growing out of this theory:

1. Patterns/rules of communication are learned from others. They are not natural laws of the universe. Our communication rules are not necessarily better or more natural than those of other people.

2. Many of these "rules" are so well-learned that we are unconscious of them and think of them only when they are broken.

3. "Rules" of interaction create the basis for cooperative activity among people. They permit us to anticipate other people's actions and coordinate our behavior with those others.

4. "Rules"/patterns differ from context to context.

5. Interaction "rules" can be understood to exist at 5 different levels:

a) Human - rules followed by virtually every human being.

b) Cultural - rules followed by virtually everyone within a particular culture.

c) Sub-cultural - rules followed by members of an identifiable set of people within a culture (e.g. Cuban Americans)

d) Organizational - rules followed by members of a particular organization or group.

e) Interpersonal - rules followed by people within a close, personal relationship, unique to that relationship (e.g. best friends, brother- sister, etc.)

1. Rhetorical sensitivity is, in part, recognizing the patterns of communication others use in particular contexts AND learning to adapt our messages to their patterns.

2. Effective message preparation for speaking and writing involves learning and using generally accepted patterns of communication (organization, use of support, method of reasoning, choice of topic, word choice, etc.) as found in American culture as well as adaptation to audience (i.e. others).