Literary Conflict

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

External There are five types of external conflict

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

External Character vs. Technology This type of conflict involves some sort of technological struggle with our character.

External Character vs. Nature This type of conflict pits a story's main character or characters against a natural force such as a flood, predatory animal, or disease epidemic.

External Man vs. Supernatural In stories with this type of conflict, the main character resists forces that are not of this world. He or she may battle monsters or strange creatures. He or she may challenge beings with magical powers. Or he or she may encounter hostile aliens.

External Character vs Society In many stories, the protagonist battles an unjust element of government or culture.

Internal There is one type of Internal conflict

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

Practice Decide what type of conflict is being illustrated in the following pictures

1. Character vs. ?

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Practice Now that you have mastered pictures, let’s try some text!

1. Man vs. ? “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)

2. Man vs. ? 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.”

3. Man vs. ? “I don’t care who you talk to!” screamed Sarah to West. “I just wish I had never met you!”

4. Man vs. ? 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.

5. Man vs. ? 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.

6. Man vs. ? One cloudy night, a bright light flashed, the wind picked up and just then a silver saucer was above my head. A beam of light came down upon me, the next thing I knew I was lifted into the craft and carrid out to space.

7. Man vs. ? 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!”

8. Man vs. ? 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.

9. Man vs. ? Cemeteries can be very scary, especially when you are dealing with ghosts. Three things you need to have in your ghost kit are; ghost spray, an anti ghost light, and salt (ghosts hate the stuff).

10. Man vs. ? Robots become smart, they become really smart. These robot are starting to take over and enslave us all!