In literature, there is always some type of
conflict (a struggle, challenge, or opposition) that drives the story. There are several types of conflict:
- Character vs. character
- Character vs. self
- Character vs. nature
- Character vs. society
- Character vs. technology
- Character vs. supernatural
- Character vs. fate
A great deal of the time, there may be more than one type of conflict present.
Here are a few resources on types of conflict that I found helpful:
Learn/Review
This is really written more so for writers, but the author does a good job of summarizing the types of conflict as well as provides examples. There's also a nice info graphic here.
Conflict: What's the Problem? Powerpoint
This is a simple, but handy, chart that gives 7 categories of conflict, a description of each, as well as an example. To get this document, don't choose the yellow "download" button, but rather scroll down to the end of the imbedded window and choose the print icon. (The download button prompted me to upload a document).
Types of Conflict Graphic Organizer (TJ)
This was based upon the graphic organizer above, which we did, but my daughter wanted to use her own examples.
This was the original G.O. I made for my daughter so that she could illustrate the types of conflict. It contains 6 of them. I liked the categorization of 7 types of conflict above, so I went with that instead, but I am posting this one in case it's helpful.
Practice
This page provides a brief overview of the different types of conflict and then has several worksheets. Also includes 2 powerpoint lessons. I like the powerpoint lessons as they are brief and provide a few practice activities at the end (students are given a scenario and have to identify the type of conflict present.) No bells and whistles but concise and to the point.
Conflict Practice Sheets - 3 Handouts on Internal & External Conflict
Free from TpT. This is a great set of worksheets to practice identifying the different types of conflicts. Includes an answer key. The author of the worksheets also has a section on her site about activities for teaching conflict (
The Literary Maven) ( a lot of ideas here).
