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CREATIVE WRITING

Quarter 1 – Module 9:

ELEMENTS OF FICTION – FOCUS ON TYPES OF CONFLICT

Polytechnic College of Botolan · Botolan, Zambales

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

 Republic of the Philippines
POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE OF BOTOLAN
(Formerly Botolan Community College)
Botolan, Zambales
E-mail: polytechniccollegeofbotolan@gmail.com
Website: pcbzambales.com
Contact number: 0949-155-3113

GENERAL
INSTRUCTIONS:

1. READ THE DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY.

2. DO NOT WRITE ANYTHING ON THIS MODULE.
3. PROVIDE ANSWER SHEETS FOR YOUR ANSWER.

LEARNING
OBJECTIVES:
OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
1. Explain different types of conflict;
2. Analyse problem and conflicts in a passage; and
3. Write practical ways to solve conflicts in real-life situations.

PRE-TEST
TURN UP YOUR KNOWLEDGE:
Can you name the leading problems in your community? Think about the causes to such problems and
suggest some possible solutions.

PROBLEMS CAUSES SOLUTIONS

What are your realizations now? People are people and we will always face struggles, problems, and hardships.
You have your own problems too, right? In stories conflicts are also present. Let’s study them!

LESSON PROPER
GEAR-UP YOUR MIND:

Conflict is present everywhere in the world around us. We experience conflict on daily basis, and it can be
minor (a disagreement with a friend about where to have lunch) or major (countries at war).

In literature, conflict is the result of competing desires or the presence of obstacles that need to be
overcome; a clash of actions, ideas, desires, or wills. Conflict is necessary to propel a narrative forward; the absence of
conflict amounts to the absence of story. It is true to say now that conflict is what drives us to finish a story.

There are four main types of conflict identified in literature: man versus man, man versus nature, man
versus self, man versus society. Note that these standard classifications use “man” as universal term, including women as
well. Let’s take a closer look at these four conflicts and other forms.

1) Man versus man: A situation in which two characters have opposing desires or interest. The typical scenario is
conflict between the protagonist and antagonist. This is an external conflict. Most thrillers and mysteries have this
type of conflict, such as Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code and Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games. Katniss must
fight her fellow contestants to death in order to survive. Many mystery novels have the person against person
conflict at their core as one character tries to uncover who responsible for the crime. Here are some examples of
conflict in the real world:
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  Negotiating peace between China and Philippines on West Philippine sea issue.
 A divorcing couple trying to determine custody rights.
 A complaining passenger at the airline front desk about the plane ticket.

2) Man versus nature: In this type of conflict, a character is tormented by natural forces such as storms or
animals. This is also an external conflict. Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and The Sea and Moby Dick by
Herman Melville are examples of this type of conflict. Another is the Island of the Blue Dolphins is about a young
girl struggling to survive stranded alone on an island and might be called an adventure novel. Here are some
examples of conflict in the real world:

 Typhoon Yolanda destroying people’s houses and livelihood.

 Trying to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
 A guard dog attacking a thief.

3) Man versus self. This conflict develops from a protagonist’s inner struggles, and may depend on a character
trying to decide between good and evil or overcome self-doubts. This conflict has both internal and external
aspects, as obstacles outside the protagonist force the protagonist to deal with inner issues. William
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is an example. Here are some more examples of conflict in the real world:

 An alcoholic struggling to abstain from liquor.

 Someone attempting to get over an ex-lover.
 A stutterer preparing for a public speech.

4) Man versus society. In this type of conflict, a character must take on society itself, and not on a single person.
The character stands at odds with societal norms and realizes the necessity to work against these norms. This is
an external conflict. Conflict examples are John Steinbeck’s The Pearl, Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, and The
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Here are some examples of conflicts in the real world:

 Martin Luther King Jr. speaking out against segregation.

 Mahatma Gandhi encouraging non-violent protest.
 A loner struggling to fit in at school.

BOOST-UP YOUR LEARNING:

TASK 1

Directions: Read each sentences below. Write which type of conflict relates to the given sentences.

1. The man was upset that the driver told him wrong directions. _____________________
2. John was frustrated with himself for forgetting his binoculars.______________________
3. The boy scouts had to brace the freezing cold in the mountains.___________________
4. The family was upset at the politicians for not improving the park.__________________
5. The visitors were unhappy with their hospitality of the city._______________________

Others have further identified more types of conflict, such as the following:

5) Man versus technology/machine: A more contemporary type of conflict, this situation results from humans
involved in a struggle with man-made machine or man-made entities which may possess “artificial intelligence”.

As our lives become more dependent upon and vulnerable to technology, the use of this as conflict is
likely to grow. However, we can actually look back hundreds of years to perhaps the earliest novel in
which this was the central conflict. Frankenstein tells the story of a creature created through scientific
means, and thus it is classic example of the person versus technology conflict.

This is a popular theme in science fiction film and television with movie franchises such as “The Matrix”
and “The Terminator” and the TV show “Battlestar Galactica” pitting humans against powerful technology.

6) Man versus supernatural. Supernatural elements are typically those that defy the laws of nature and are
beyond scientific understanding. Stories in which characters are facing ghosts or demons if those entities are not
too human-like would fit in this category as would stories about any kind of inexplicable antagonist. Therefore, a
story like The Birds would fall under this conflict and not person against nature because the birds in that story are
clearly not acting in a normal fashion.

Conflicts against aliens might be classed as conflicts against the supernatural or as person against person
depending on the types of powers and technology the aliens possess. In science fiction story where
humans and aliens are on roughly equal footing, the aliens might be considered the same as people for
the sake of the conflict.

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 7) Man versus fate. This situation results from a protagonist working against what has been foretold for that
person. While this conflict was more prevalent in stories where gods could control fate, such as in ancient Greek
dramas, there are still examples of this type of conflict in more contemporary literature. An example would be Kurt
Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five.

Internal conflict – takes place in a person’s mind. This is when a character has a struggle within himself or
herself.

External conflict – takes place between a person and someone or something else, such as nature. This happens
when a character has a struggle with another character or outside being.

TASK 2
Directions: Read the description of each story below. Determine the protagonist (central character) and
antagonist (opposing force). Then describe the type of conflict (example: man vs. nature).

1. It’s the year 3030 and society is completely dependent on computers and robots. A young boy named Domino is
flying his hover board to school when all the machines start acting up and attacking people due to a powerful
computer virus. What will Domino do now that the machines that are supposed to help him turned against him?

Protagonist: ____________________________
Antagonist: ____________________________
Type of conflict: ____________________________

2. Brian has the best dog in the world. In fact, he has one of the only dogs in the world. That’s because dogs are not
allowed in Brian’s world, where people believe that dogs spread diseases. Brian’s dog will be executed if he
caught. Soon Brian learns of a mysterious underground dog owners club joins the fight to legalize dogs. Can Brian
and his new friends prove the world that dogs are safe and friendly?

Protagonist: ________________________________
Antagonist: _________________________________
Type of conflict: ______________________________

3. Kirstin was once teased for being heavy, but then she lost a lot weight. Now Kirstin is very skinny, but there’s just
one problem: she still an overweight girl when she looks in the mirror. Her friends and family try to convince her of
how beautiful she is, but she doesn’t believe them. Worse still, she is continuing to diet. Will Kirstin be able to align
her body image with reality or will she destroy herself?

Protagonist: _____________________________
Antagonist: ______________________________
Type of conflict: ____________________________

4. Everything was going just fine for Mae until yesterday. That was when she found out that her eyes were turning
green. In Mae’s world people discriminate against those with green eyes. Green-eyed people cannot vote or hold
public office and they are often forced to work the worst jobs for the least pay, if they can even find a job. Mae
parents want her to have surgery to change her eye color, but her grandma, who also has green eyes, encourages
her to fight for her rights. With her grandma behind her, Mae joins a resistance movement and becomes the poster
child for green-eyed rights, but how will all of this attention affect Mae’s family, especially her parents who wanted
her to hide who she was?

Protagonist: ________________________
Antagonist: _________________________
Type of conflict: ___________________________

5. Ronny has won second place in the science fair for the last two years, and Kevin Domingo has taken first. Ronny
hated how Kevin gloated and held these victories high over Ronny’s head. This year, Ronny will stop at nothing to
beat Kevin. He has even enlisted the help of a Nobel Prize nominated scientist who was banished from the
scientific community for his rouge experiments. Can Ronny and his mad scientist partner win against the
undefeated Kevin at this year’s science fair?

Protagonist: ________________________
Antagonist: _________________________
Type of conflict: _____________________

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 SUMMARY

While conflict in literature can be complex, knowing the basics is key to the understanding how conflict is
built and how it affects the story. These elements of conflict can appear both individually and together with one another, but
one of them must exist. Remember that conflicts can be recurring theme throughout the story or a momentary and
temporary obstacle. There may be multiple points of conflict in a single story, as characters may have more than one desire
or may struggle against more than one opposing force.

Conflict challenges a character’s convictions and brings out his/her strength and/or weaknesses, much as
it does in real life. Note that conflict is not necessarily “bad” and often it is not obvious which side is right or wrong, just that it
presents difficulties in the protagonist.

GENERALIZATION

1. Enumerate the various types of conflicts.

2. Write practical ways to solve conflicts in real-life situations.

References
Jose, P. L., & Larioque, R. R. (2017). Creative Writing. Mandaluyong City: Books Atbp. Publishing Corp.

FEEDBACK

Prepared by:

SHELLA MAR BARCIAL, LPT.

SHS Teacher

Reviewed by:

MYRNA S. PANGAN
SHS Principal

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