Did you know the word conflict comes from the Latin words "struck together?" This image of being struck together reminds of a person trying to build a campfire in a wilderness with flint and steel. Like this guy: Basically, without friction, there is no fire. And without conflict, there is no story. Now that we are in the third fifth of your free choice novels, there should be multiple strands of conflict revealed. You will be analyzing one of them. You will locate a place in the text where the author is developing conflict. You will also need to identify what kind of conflict you've found. Probably, your conflict will be one of these four most common types:
Let's look at examples of these four types of conflict using music videos from the 90's. (Either the 90's were a particularly conflicted decade, or I just remember it like that because those were the years I was in middle school.) In our Curriculum TEAMS meeting of next week, we'll analyze one of these videos together. 1. Character versus CharacterBrandy versus Monica. 2. Character versus SocietyGwen Stephani versus the Patriarchy. 3. Character versus SelfJohn Michael Stipe versus his own Faith. 4. Character versus NatureFran Healy versus the Rain (and the Scottish Highlands). And there you have it, the 4 most common types of conflict. Less common (and not from the 90's) are the following two types of conflict: Character versus Supernatural (perhaps relevant for those of you reading vampire or fantasy stories) and Character versus Technology. Character versus SupernaturalMichael Jackson versus the Undead. Further back to 80's. Have you guys ever seen this before? The TikTok aficionados out there have something to learn from Michael's dance moves, as do we all. Watching this video is a cultural education in itself. Character versus TechnologyJanelle Monae versus the Androids. And now we're back in the 2000's. Janelle Monae: ALSO A GREAT DANCER, RIGHT? So much cultural commentary in this video, too. Comments are closed.
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AuthorI'm a Houston high school teacher in the Spring of 2020. Welcome to my adapted, socially-distanced, quarantined English II classroom. Archives
May 2020
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