Conflict Activities for Literary Analysis

Conflict activities for literary analysis: Let’s have fun with this divisive literary device and move toward literary analysis activities. Below, I’ve included literary analysis activities as well as short stories to teach conflict. 

Conflicts in literature: They give our stories movement. Identifying examples for different types—human vs. human, self, nature, society, and the supernatural—is the focus of many class discussions. In literary analysis, conflict remains a cornerstone because every character sees conflicts differently, encounters them differently. Other characters are unaware of certain conflicts, making the implications larger. Literary analysis activities include some sort of discussion about a story’s conflict.

As you discuss a story’s conflict, you’ll naturally expand and connect conflicts to other pieces of the story. Many standards ask students to examine how conflicts move the theme forward or how conflicts reveal characterization. Over the years, I’ve honed several conflict activities for literary analysis that are easy to implement and switch around. Plus, they work well for review. When I provide student choice, students latch to an activity that will individually help them understand literature more than they did before.

Before I dive into a large literary analysis essay, I might use one or two of these activities as a springboard. Once students experience success with analysis, they are willing to expand their thoughts. I’ve included all of these activities (plus many more) in a free download. Access it here:

Looking for a literary conflict lesson plan? These conflict graphic organizers can help.

Free conflict activities.

Here is a list of free, no (or little!) prep conflict activities. These can also easily work for other literary elements activities. Some may fit better with novels and others better with short stories. Adapt these conflict activities for literary analysis as needed!

After the list, I’ve provided five short stories to teach conflict.

Add sticky notes.

Give every student one or two sticky notes. Have them write one conflict per note. Organize different sections around the room—man vs. man, society, and on—and have students file their sticky notes in the appropriate area.

Students can see what the most common conflict was and what the most common type of conflict was. Organizing the conflicts will give students a visual, and you can ask them to explain why some readers see the same conflict, but put them in different categories. Since sticky notes are movable, you can rearrange the conflicts as your discussions grow. Perhaps they overlap.

You can also analyze which category has the most: is this indicative of the story’s time period? the author’s life experiences?

Finally, leave the sticky notes on the wall or poster board. Bring the conflicts back to students as you learn more about the story and discover other literary elements.

Provide a ‘big picture’ of conflict.

Choose one type of conflict to look at throughout history. (This works well for man vs. government.) Students will throw down wars, prohibition, witch trials, voting rights, and segregation. Create a master list from students’ ideas.

Are any remnants of this history seen in the current story? Probably so. Turn that realization into a speech, paper, or additional research. Was the author intentional in bringing the story to life to address societal ills such as slavery or racism? If not, look at how the conflicts from the story are regarded by today’s standards.

Brainstorm ideas about a particular conflict.

Choose a conflict, or have students pick a conflict for further study. Have students decide which character (or force) from the story is ‘correct.’

Look at dissenting sides together, possibly moving students on different sides of the room. Then ask students to write about the opposite of the ‘correct’ character they originally chose. (Bonus: discuss empathy.) Discuss the author’s choice in portraying the conflict as it is. Move students to higher thinking to evaluate the author’s choices.

Think: Not a conflict? Are you sure?

Reread earlier portions of the story, not only to review, but to find seemingly innocuous events between characters and forces that we now know have conflicts. Read these events with a fresh set of eyes. If the story is long, you might list out pages and jigsaw the activity.

This works well with longer novels or plays. When students first read a story, they naturally don’t catch details that add to conflicts.

Take A Separate Peace for example. When readers first meet Phineas and Gene, they might not notice the subtle expressions from Gene. This initial stage of their conflict leads to the story’s climax and ultimately Gene’s realization that there never was an enemy. Students will see that the conflict was always there, before they knew it was.

Move toward literary analysis.

Provide a variety of writing prompts for students that will inspire them to connect pieces of literary analysis together. Not every writing prompt will inspire students, so allow them to choose what make sense to them.

Part of the purpose (and fun) of literary analysis is realizing what other life experiences and beliefs bring to literature. After students write, partner or group students so they can share their ideas. Since brain-based learning tells us to get brains working together, I utilize the writing prompts to accomplish that. Students personalized their analysis, and every student will experience a different angle concerning the story.

Exclude a conflict.

List conflicts in the story. What happens if a conflict were to disappear, big or small: How would the story change? Would readers understand a character less? Would the story be less interesting? Was the conflict unnecessary? (Are you sure?) Could it have been more interesting? Involved another character? Connected to the theme?

By asking these questions after taking a conflict away, students will realize how that conflict shaped other pieces of the story and moved the story along. And if it didn’t—well, that is a huge activity on its own.

What types of conflict activities in literature will you share with students. Add literary elements activities to your literature unit.

Write a correspondence.

I see students use this choice to examine the history behind famous events. For instance, if a novel is set during World War II, students can draft letters between officers from the story.

I’ve also seen students write email correspondences between coaches when they read Mike Lupica books. The emails allow students to analyze the conflicts between players, coaches, and other characters.

Draft a break-up song or poem.

Is a conflict a broken heart? Write a song or poem from the distraught character’s point of view. Include key elements from the story as lyrics.

File a police report.

A police report works well if a physical conflict is involved. I’ve also seen students take a humorous turn with this option, like with “The Monkey’s Paw.” Students will try to explain the situation (which is impossible!) to an outside source.

As a slight alternative, students have also created an insurance report for a car accident. In Lauren Oliver’s Before I Fall, the car accident is a crucial part of the story. Not to spoil the story, but the car accident is reviewed multiple times.

Research authentic parallels.

A conflict might be in a book because real events inspired the author. For instance, Angie Thomas modeled Khali from The Hate U Give after several incidents of police killing unarmed black men.

Conflict activities for literary analysis may need specifically tailored for individual stories, and variations of these start discussions. For when you need a quick activity to study a novel or short story’s conflicts, I hope this list of literary elements activities gets you started.

Looking for extra, ready to print and teach materials to teach conflict? This Conflict Graphic Organizer Bundle will work work with any novel or short story to set students up for success with literary analysis.

Short stories to teach conflict are available online for free. Use these TEN conflict activities for literary analysis with short stories or any piece of literature in your high school language arts classroom. Meet literature standards while teaching conflict in literature. Confilct activities: download this free PDF for literature activities & add to any novel unit or lit circle activity. Join high school English teachers with conflict activities for literary analysis.

 

Short stories to teach conflict.

But! If you are looking for short stories to teach conflict, I have ideas for you as well.

Quicksand by Nella Larsen

Nella Larsen was a writer during the Harlem Renaissance, and Quicksand is a novella, but mature classes could read it, or you could pull an excerpt from it.

Conflicts in Quicksand are both internal and external. A Black female during the early 1900s (Helga Crane) faces internal conflict due to her family backgrounds. She also experiences external conflict from society and people’s treatment of her.

There Will Come Soft Rains

I love this science fiction story by Ray Bradbury, and I’ve found that I can teach multiple elements with this story. If you are looking to teach the conflict “humans vs. technology,” Bradbury’s story will work. The humans are dead, killed by nuclear war, and their remaining home functions without them. Students can endlessly discuss the conflict of humans’ reliance on technology.

The Lady or The Tiger

Students always debate the conflict that the woman had in this story! The premise that a woman would choose for her boyfriend a new wife or a certain death is so goofy that students open up and debate the feelings surrounding love. As a warning, I have had classes find the story incredibly dumb (their words!), but I have had success. If you have a goofy class who will suspend their disbelief, you can add “The Lady and The Tiger” to your short stories to teach conflict.

Why I Live at the P.O.

Eudora Welty’s story about an angry sister moving to the post office is hysterical and is a classic of American literature. The family’s disfunction and hidden beliefs add to the internal conflicts Sister faces. Students find the story incredibly goofy (it is!) and are quite open to discussing the multiple conflicts.

Two Kinds

I love Amy Tan, and I often teach her writing. In “Two Kinds,” the mother and daughter have internal conflicts which manifest into external conflicts. English teachers can cover generational conflicts as well as cultural conflicts.

I hope these short stories to teach conflict fit your audience and your curriculum. You can use any of the above conflict activities with the perfect story.

Conflict activities for literary analysis: ELA puzzle pieces

No template or set of task cards will work for explaining literary conflict to all classes. When creating conflict activities for literary analysis, consider what your classes need for understanding, what story will provide ample discussion points, and what pieces can leverage readers toward true analysis.

 

Subscribe to our mailing list to receive updates about new blog posts, freebies, and teaching resources!

* indicates required

We will send you emails, but we will never sell your address.

You can change your mind at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of any email you receive from us, or by contacting us at [email protected]. We will treat your information with respect. For more information about our privacy practices please visit our website. By clicking below, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with these terms.

We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp’s privacy practices here.

Are you looking for more literary elements activities? More literary analysis activities? Posts on characterization, theme, and setting will help. Be sure to check out the graphic organizers with conflict activities for literary analysis.
Types of conflict activity can include conflict graphic organizers. A literary conflict lesson plan should include a variety of activities.