Literary Conflict

External vs. Internal External: takes place outside of the body Internal: takes place inside of the body/mind

There are three (3) types of external conflict.

External Man vs. Man The most straightforward type of conflict pits the protagonist (main character) directly against another character with apparently opposing aims (goals).

Man vs. Nature/Environment External Man vs. Nature/Environment This type of conflict pits a character against a natural force or physical situation such as a flood, predatory animal, or disease epidemic.

External Man vs. Society In this type of conflict, the protagonist battles against an unjust element of government or culture.

There is one (1) type of internal conflict.

Internal Man vs. Self Some literary conflicts take the form of a character struggling to overcome fear, addiction, emotional damage, or some other crippling personal issue.

What type of conflict is being illustrated in the following pictures? Practice What type of conflict is being illustrated in the following pictures?

Man vs. ?

Man vs. ?

Man vs. ?

Man vs. ?

Man vs. ?

Man vs. ?

Man vs. ?

Man vs. ?

Now that we have mastered pictures, let’s try some text. Practice Now that we have mastered pictures, let’s try some text.

Text #1 Quotation:“If she had only proceeded more slowly. If she had only taken the Southerly route, avoiding the icebergs. If only the watch had had a pair of binoculars.” (news story about the Titanic) External or Internal? Type? Explain.

Text #2 Quotation: Charles decided to break all the rules the day he decided to steal that car. He was immediately arrested and sent to jail to await his trial. He should have known better than to mess with the “rules.” External or Internal? Type? Explain.

Text #3 Quotation: “I don’t care who you talk to!” screamed Sarah to West. “I just wish I had never met you!” External or Internal? Type? Explain.

Text #4 Quotation: After lowering himself into the damp and dark cave Tom began to reprimand himself for not having replaced his flashlight batteries. Tom’s terror slowly began to take over as the light around him grew dimmer and dimmer and dimmer. External or Internal? Type? Explain.

Text #5 Quotation: After the light in the cave was completely gone Tom began to stumble through the cave blindly cutting his hands on what appeared to be sharp rocks. External or Internal? Type? Explain.

Text #6 Quotation: Tom found a dry spot to sit down in the dark and began to obsess over an argument he had had earlier in the day with his mother in which he had said, “I hope I never see you again!” External or Internal? Type? Explain.

Conflict Assignment Take out a clean sheet of notebook paper. Label your paper with a proper MLA heading. The title is Conflict Assignment. Fold your paper vertically (hot dog style) to create two columns. Label the column on the left External and the column on the right Internal.

Your paper should now look like this: Susie Student Mrs. Freeman English II, 1st Hour 6 October 2014 Conflict Assignment External Internal

Directions Your task is to identify, label, and explain quotations that illustration external and internal conflicts in each of the passages we have read so far this year. For “Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket,” you will need two (2) external and two (2) internal conflicts. For “Occupation: Conductorette” you will need one (1) external and one (1) internal conflict. For “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” you will need one (1) external and one (1) internal conflict. For “The Monkey’s Paw” you will need one (1) external and one (1) internal conflict.

Example of what your paper will look like: External Internal “Tom’s mother was upset that he wanted to skip going to college in order to go spelunking in all of the world’s greatest caves before he turned thirty. Tom didn’t understand the big deal, he didn’t really believe in structured “learning” anyway.” (Columbus 55) Type: Man vs. Man Explain: Tom and his mother disagree about Tom’s plans for his future. 1. “Tom found a dry spot to sit down in the dark and began to obsess over an argument he had had earlier in the day with his mother in which he had said, ‘I hope I never see you again!’” (Columbus 54) Type: Man vs. Self Explain: Tom is struggling with his own choices about how he handled a situation earlier in the day. He is regretting being so cruel to his mother. * You will have a total of 5 external and 5 internal conflicts when you have correctly completed this assignment.