Understanding Conflict
3.3 Analyze interactions
between characters in a
literary text by focusing
on internal and external
conflicts.
CONFLICT?
Conflict means tension between characters
A conflict can be. . .
a problem
a struggle
a personal war
a clash of ideas
Every conflict needs a resolution
Without a resolution,
bad things
tend to happen
In Star Wars,
Darth Vader
is the source
of the
external conflict
and
An external conflict is. . .
a physical force
something
the
character
encounterscontrol
face to face
beyond
the character’s
that keeps
the
character from
achieving his or
her goals
An external conflict is NOT. . .
For many characters,
an external conflict
is a matter of
life and death
What kind of
IMPACT do they have
Think about the effects of an external conflict
on the story?
Who do they
In The Dark Knight, the Joker
inflicts death, doom, and
destruction on Gotham City—
all effects of the external
conflict he creates
Why is external conflict important?
Without external conflict,
there is no action
no drama
no tension
no story
External
conflict is
what forces a
character to
make tough
decisions
Without external conflict, the
protagonist will always be a static
character, without an opportunity
to change, grow, or discover
something new about life
There are FIVE
external conflicts
that are popular in
fiction and movies
Man vs. man
Man vs. society
Man vs.
Man vs.
machine
Now for INTERNAL conflict
An internal conflict can be. . .
a fear
a belief
a need or desire
a personal problem
Another one of
Batman’s internal
conflicts is that he
often makes choices
that are dangerous
and outside the law
In The Dark Knight, Batman’s internal
conflict is his unwillingness to kill the Joker
In The Dark Knight, the
Joker triggers one of
Batman’s biggest internal
conflicts: his refusal to
disclose his identity as
Bruce Wayne.
When thinking about a story’s conflict,
What happens
if the
What’s
at stake
for
the protagonist?
conflict
isn’t resolved?
ask yourself these questions:
Dorothy’s
internal
conflict Dorothy
is that resolves her conflicts by
killing
she feels
as ifthe witch and by learning that
there really is no place like home.
she doesn’t
belong in the
Land of Oz.
Little Red Riding Hood’s Little Red Riding
internal conflict is that
Hood resolves her
she has mixed feelingsconflicts by escaping
about the Big Bad Wolf.
the Big Bad Wolf and
by learning that she
shouldn’t talk to
strangers.
Motivation is the
reason characters
behave the way
they do—it’s what
drives their actions
To be motivated
means to be moved
to do something
There are two types of motivation
Extrinsic
Intrinsic motivation
motivation comes
comes from
from within
outside
ItIt means
means doing
doing something
something because
for an outcome
it’s fun
There are
different factors
that motivate
characters
In the movie
Scarface, three
things motivate
Tony Montana:
power, money, and
his desire to move
up in the world.
A sense of justice and
a need to help others
is what motivates most
superheroes.
Antagonists like
the Joker use fear
and the threat of
death or violence
to motivate people.
Love is a source
of motivation for
many characters
Understanding
a character’s motivation
allows you
to understand the character
So what
motivates
YOU?