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!
In Hamlet, much of the conflict stems from the information the ghost gives Hamlet, which ultimately leads to his death. In each of the plays acts, Hamlet's need for revenge causes misfortune and death.
Having students create storyboards that show the cause and effect of different types of conflicts reinforce and develop literary analysis strengths.
The men argue, and eventually fight over the deaths of Polonius and Ophelia.
Hamlet struggles with the Danish court. Convention has placed Claudius on his brother's throne, and allowed him to marry Gertrude, both of which upset Hamlet.
“To be or not to be, that is the question!”
(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 Hamlet.
Introduce the types of literary conflicts and ask the students to choose one or more conflict types that go along with the topics and characters in their writing. Think about how each category might increase tension and advance the story as a whole.
Ask the students to describe their key characters and explain each one's unique struggles, aspirations, or ambitions. Make sure the reader can understand and relate to their motivations.
Weave conflict into the story. Create scenarios or barriers that directly contradict the objectives and convictions of your characters.
Develop scenes that highlight the exchanges that come from conflicts to illustrate conflict interactions. In any conflict, whether it involves characters arguing, making decisions, or overcoming obstacles, it's important to emphasize the emotional aspect.
Hamlet's character development is driven by the difficulties he encounters. His personal conflicts inspire reflection, his conflicts with Claudius and others demonstrate his tenacity, and his run-ins with the paranormal test his religious convictions. Overall, all of the literary conflicts used in play an important role in the story as well as Hamlet’s personal growth.
The way the conflicts are resolved differs. While Hamlet's death settles his psychological issues, the last act's encounter between Hamlet and Claudius concludes the man-versus-man conflict. The conflicts between man and fate and society are open to interpretation.
Conflicts can be better understood by highlighting how complex personalities and concepts are. It enables readers to comprehend the characters' reasons for their actions as well as how these conflicts add to the play's overall meaning.