Literary conflicts are often taught during ELA units. Building on prior knowledge to achieve mastery level with our students is important. An excellent way to focus on the various types of literary conflict is through storyboarding. Having students choose an example of each literary conflict and depict it using the Storyboard Creator is a great way to reinforce your lesson!
Conflict between the A Midsummer Night’s Dream characters is an important recurring element. Much of the conflict that arises from the mismatched affections of the young Athenians, and from Puck's attempts to remedy the situation.
In the beginning, Helena betrays her friend Hermia when she tells Demetrius that Hermia has run off with Lysander. Helena betrays her friend just to get closer to Demetrius, with whom she is in love, even though he does not reciprocate these feelings.
Puck, as a faerie, and the Flower of Love, can both be seen as representing nature. Puck's mischief, and the fickle nature of love cause endless confusion among the mortals as they are controlled by the power of love.
Once Puck tries to "rectify" the situation, and both men to fall in love with Helena, the young Athenians are set against each other by jealousy. Hermia becomes livid with Helena for "taking" both of the men. Demetrius and Lysander are driven to the point of dueling over Helena.
(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)
Student Instructions
Create a storyboard that shows at least three forms of literary conflict in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
As you begin to teach literary conflict, give students a full explanation of what to look for. Make sure to include Person vs. Person, Person vs. Self, Person vs. Nature, and Person vs. Society. Give examples from works students are familiar with to aid with learning.
Because Puck is a fairy who loves to cause mischief and uses the elements of the natural world to do so, you can help students find many Person vs. Nature conflicts. He is always getting in the way of other characters, using potions and natural elements to do so.
Literary conflicts move the action of the story along and lead to the characters' interactions with each other. Without conflicts, nothing would really happen in the story.
Whenever students need to take the time to create pictures or write descriptions, they will be able to understand the story a little better. Using a storyboard helps students to organize their thoughts and their learning about literary conflicts.
One of the primary conflicts in this story is jealousy, or a person vs. person conflict. Hermia and Helena are mad at each other, while Demetrius and Lysander end up fighting over Helena. Person vs. Nature is also clearly scene with Puck (a fairy) using flowers and potions to go against the characters.