Literary Conflict in The Giver

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 the example storyboard above, each cell contains a particular type of conflict. The type of conflict is displayed, and visually represented with an explanation of the scene, and how it fits the specific category of conflict.

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The Giver Conflict Examples

MAN vs. MAN

Jonas vs. The Giver - Jonas is upset with the Giver for not giving everyone the memories to share.

MAN vs. SELF

Jonas vs. Jonas the Receiver - As Jonas grows with his memories and wisdom, he struggles with "release" when he realizes that it actually means death.

MAN vs. SOCIETY

Jonas vs. His Community - Jonas is completely against the community. He leaves to go elsewhere when the infant, Gabe, is threatened with being "released".

Student Instructions

Create a storyboard that shows at least three forms of literary conflict in The Giver.

1. Identify conflicts in The Giver.
2. Categorize each conflict as Character vs. Character, Character vs. Self, Character vs. Society, Character vs. Nature, or Character vs. Technology.
3. Illustrate conflicts in the cells, using characters from the story.
4. Write a short description of the conflict below the cell.
5. Save and submit the assignment.