Conflict: The Different Kinds

Man vs. Man

Man vs. Society

Man vs. Nature

Man vs. Self

Man vs. Man

Man vs. Man occurs when a character (man or

woman!) has an argument, disagreement, or other

kind of “argument” with another character.

Who can give me an example?

Man vs. Society

The conflict between Man and Society occurs

when a character disagrees with societal

values,

laws, or beliefs.

Who wants to give me an example of this kind of

conflict?

Man vs. Nature

A conflict of Man vs. Nature occurs when a

character has a problem with outside forces:

weather, animals, land, etc.

Who can think of an example besides the

television show “Man vs. Wild?”

Man vs. SelfMan vs. self occurs

when a character develops an internal struggle between his thoughts and ideas. This can be a result of the other conflicts mentioned.

Can anyone think of a good example of this kind of conflict?

Conflict in your own life Think of a time when you

have struggled with another person, with society, with nature, or with yourself.

Write it down and think about how you resolved these problems

PAIR Find a partner nearby

and share your conflict and method of resolution with your partner.

What are similar about your conflicts? Different?

How do you think that conflict relates to an interesting story?

SHARE Take your group and

combine with another group. Identify Man vs Man, Society, Nature, and Self and compare answers about how conflict is related to making stories interesting.

WRITE

Write a paragraph (at least five sentences) about how you think

different kinds of conflict make a story interesting or uninteresting.