TYPES OF

LITERARY
CONFLICTS
 Good day grade 7!
I am Teacher Ramen, and let us learn new things from
our topic today!
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
01 Define conflict.

02 Identify the different types of

conflict.

03 Determine the conflict and its non-violent

solution presented in the story.
Parts of speech
• Noun • Prepositions
• Pronoun • Interjections
• Verb
• Adverb
• Adjective
• Conjunctions
Let’s define!

Literature Conflict Struggle

• is a literary device • Struggle means to make efforts or

• Is a body of written works, may
characterized by a struggle force in the face of difficulties,
it be prose or poetry.
between two opposing forces. opposition, or problems. It can also
mean to contend or fight with
someone or something.
Let’s define!

Crucial Resolve

• is extremely important or essential • To find an answer or solution to

something
 View the pictures
comprehensively. Label
each as internal conflict or
External conflict
What’s in the
picture?
What’s in the
picture?
What’s in the
picture?
What’s in the
picture?
What’s in the
picture?
Answer the following:
01 What are shown in the pictures?

02 What conflict is depicted in each

pictures?

03 How do you resolve these conflicts?

Answer the following:

Share a situation where you experienced a

04
conflict and how did you resolve it?
 What is a
conflict?
In literature, a conflict is a
literary device characterized
by a struggle between two
opposing forces. Conflict
provides crucial tension in any
story and is used to reveal a
deeper meaning in a narrative
while highlighting characters’
motivation, values and
weaknesses.
 COnflict

Conflict is an important element in the study of

stories, novels, plays, movies, etc.
Do you know there are two
categories of conflict?
 Internal COnflict

Internal conflict is when a character struggles with their own

opposing desires or beliefs. It happens within them, and it drives
their development as a character.
 external COnflict

External conflict sets a character against something or someone

beyond their control. External forces stand in the way of a
character’s motivations and create tension as the character tries to
reach their goals.
There are 6 types of literary
conflict. Let us altogether
learn about them!
Types of conflict
• Character vs. Self
• Character vs. Character
• Character vs. Nature
• Character vs. Supernatural
• Character vs. Technology
• Character vs. Society
 Character vs. self

This is an internal conflict, meaning that the opposition the

character faces is coming from within. This may entail a struggle
to discern what the moral or “right” choice is, or it may also
encompass mental health struggles.
 Character vs. character

This is a common type of conflict in which one character’s needs

or wants are at odds with another’s. A character conflict can be
depicted as a straightforward fist fight, or as intricate and nuanced
as the ongoing struggle for power.
 Character vs. nature

In a nature conflict, a character is set in opposition to nature. This

can mean the weather, the wilderness, or a natural disaster. This is
the essence of the man versus nature conflict: man struggles with
human emotions, while nature charges forth undeterred.
 Character vs. supernatural

Pitting characters against phenomena like ghosts, gods, or

monsters raise the stakes of a conflict by creating an unequal
playing field. Supernatural conflict also covers characters who
have a fate or destiny and struggle to accept the sacrifices that
come along with it.
 Character vs. technology

A character conflicts with some kind of technology. Think of the

tale of John Henry, the African American folk hero. In American
folklore, Henry was a former slave who worked as a steel-driver
on the rail line. To prove his superiority over new technology, he
raced a steam-powered rock drilling machine and won. However,
he suffered a heart attack after winning the race.
 Character vs. Society
A character vs. society conflict is an external conflict that occurs
in literature when the protagonist is placed in opposition with
society, the government, or a cultural tradition or societal norm of
some kind. Characters may be motivated to take action against
their society by a need to survive, a moral sense of right and
wrong, or a desire for happiness, freedom, justice, or love.
 Why is conflict important in a story?

Most of the time readers become more interested in a literary piece

because of the tension in the story. Readers are simply hooked in
order to discover which of the characters or forces will eventually
prevail. Conflict is a necessary element in all stories whether it’s a
novel, short story, mystery, romance, and others because it makes the
plot interesting and exciting. A conflict in a literary piece also reveals
opposing beliefs and truths about life that readers can easily relate to.
 How are conflicts resolved in a
story?
In actuality, conflict is not always bad and does not have to result in
violent or hurt feelings. Conflicts are part of everyday life and they
cannot be avoided. However, whether a conflict escalates, ends
negatively or is resolved and ends peacefully in a literary selection, it
is entirely based on the choices a character/s make. The choices made
by a character in a story reveals his/her feelings, values and attitudes.
Most often than not, his/her response to a conflict determines how a
situation ends.
 Application

Identify the type of conflict depicted in the

following:
Manuelita has been chubby since she was a toddler. She became even
heavier as she grew as a teenager. She was often teased in school for
being heavy. Manuelita became so determined to lose weight. Now,
Manuelita is very skinny, however, she still sees her old overweight
self whenever she looks in the mirror. Her family and friends tried
their best to convince her how beautiful she is, yet she had a hard time
believing them. What is even worse is that she still continues to go on
a diet. Will Manuelita be able to reconcile her body image with reality
or will she still continue to have a distorted image of herself?
 What type of conflict is presented in the text?

How would you help Manuelita resolve this conflict?

Mina and Letty both grabbed a chair towards a computer in the library
for their research work. Both claimed that they needed such time on
the internet for their research study.

What type of conflict is presented in the text?

How would you resolve this conflict if you were in the library?
Juanito is just a normal Filipino boy who enjoys playing patintero,
tumbang patis, and habul-habulan. Despite being playful, he also tries
his best in his school. He excels in Math and plays baseball. But
uknown to all, he also has other preoccupation. Juanito has his own
enchanted world with magical creatures. When not in school or playing
with other kids, he travels to this enchanted world Bighani through his
magical horse Sakay. However, when he brings something to Bighani
that he should not, a hidden gate is unlocked unleashing monsters that
causes pollution and illnesses to people in Bighani. Will he be able to
capture the monsters before they find their way to his world?
What type of conflict is presented in the text?

How can Juanito resolve this conflict?

Erwan and his family were preparing for dinner when suddenly they
felt dizzy and that the grounds were shaking violently. Every member
of the family tried to hold on things inside their house to save them
from breaking. However, the shaking continued that they had to flee to
safer grounds away from falling objects.

What type of conflict is presented in the text?

How can Erwan and his family help resolve this kind of conflict?
Azzah is a Filipino Moslem woman who has committed by her parents
for an arranged marriage. Azzah was educated in a private coed
institution where she met Bryan, a Christian. They fell in love with
each other against the will of her parents. She tried to talk her way out
of the arranged marriage but to no avail. Her parents do not want to be
humiliated by not honoring the arrangement.

What conflict is shown in the text?

How can Azzah resolve this conflict? Will she be able to resolve it
peacefully? Give suggestions.
Generalization

What is a conflict?
In literature, a conflict is a literary device characterized by a
struggle between two opposing forces.
 Generalization

What are the types of conflict?

Types of conflict
• Character vs. Self
• Character vs. Character
• Character vs. Nature
• Character vs. Supernatural
• Character vs. Technology
• Character vs. Society
 Generalization

Has it been easy to differentiate one type of conflict from the

other?
 evaluation

Read the story and determine the conflict presented. My Father

Goes To Court (Carlos Bulosan)
 Answer the ff. questions:
1. What conflict is presented in the story?

2. How did they resolve the issue?

3. Why is it important to identify the conflict in a story?

Assignment
 Assignment

Read in advance about Informative Essays, page 13-15 in your

textbook.