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 "Use This Assignment With My Students", 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.
Grade Level 11-12
Difficulty Level 3 (Developing to Mastery)
Type of Assignment Individual or Partner
Type of Activity: Types of Literary Conflict
Common Core Standards
(You can also create your own on Quick Rubric.)
| Proficient | Emerging | Beginning | Try Again | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conflict Identification | Student identifies correct major conflicts and uses strong, clear textual evidence to support choice. | Student identifies correct major conflict and uses few or unclear details to support their choice. | Student identifies incorrect major conflict, and uses some details from the text to support their choice. | Student does not attempt to identify major conflict or identifies incorrect major conflict with no explanation. |
| Understanding Outcome | Student clearly shows the outcome of the conflict and its effects on the protagonist with evidence from the text. | Student shows the outcome of the conflict and its effect on the protagonist, but some evidence is unclear. | Student shows the outcome of the conflict, but does not examine its effect on the protagonist and uses some vague textual evidence. | Student does not clearly show the outcome of the conflict or use textual evidence. |
| Character | Storyboard includes all required characters and clearly names them. Goes above and beyond by adding additional details. | Storyboard includes all required characters and clearly names them. | Storyboard includes protagonist and antagonist but leaves out other required characters. | Storyboard does not include the names of required characters. |
| Storyboard | Student clearly shows effort to convey the setting the scene of the book | Student attempts to convey setting and scene of the book, but lacks some clarity. | Student does not clearly convey the setting and scene. | Student makes little or no attempt to convey the setting or scene. |
| Spelling and Grammar | Student uses exemplary spelling and grammar. There are no errors. | Student makes a minor error in spelling and grammar. | Student makes several minor errors in spelling and grammar. | Student makes many errors in spelling and grammar; little attempt at spellchecking. |
