Storyboarding is an excellent way to focus on types of literary conflict. Have your students choose an example of each literary conflict and depict them using the Storyboard Creator. In the storyboard, an example of each conflict should be visually represented, along with an explanation of the scene, and how it fits the particular category of conflict.
Janie feels increasingly aggravated and disturbed by Jody’s constant remarks about her age and her body. She knows that he is feeling self-conscious about his own aging body and is projecting it onto her, but when he critiques her in front of men in the store, she fires back at him, insulting his manhood and comparing his body to a woman in menopause. He strikes her out of humiliation and his lost sense of pride.
Shortly after Janie is married to Logan Killicks, she keeps waiting to be happy. She’s been told her whole life that when people get married, they fall in love, so she marries Logan and waits for the love to begin. After a year, Janie realizes that being married does not create love, and her dreams of love and marriage die. She becomes restless and expectant for something more.
Janie returns home to Eatonville and finds that the other women of the town are gossiping about her. They are jealous of her beauty, and speculate that she acts as if she’s better than they are. They remember how she left Eatonville with all of Joe Starks’ money, and they wonder where Tea Cake is, a man much younger than Janie. Their jealousy clouds their ability to accept her, so they ostracize her. Pheoby is the only person who stands up for Janie.
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Student Instructions
Create a storyboard that shows at least three forms of literary conflict in Their Eyes Were Watching God.
Adding empathy-building activities alongside conflict analysis can help students understand character motivations and deepen their connection to the text. This boosts critical thinking and social-emotional learning.
Ask students to rewrite a conflict scene from another character's point of view. This challenges them to consider different motivations and emotions within the same event.
Have students sit in a circle and share how they might feel if they were in each character's shoes during key conflicts. This fosters open discussion and respectful listening.
After reading a conflict, prompt students to write a brief journal entry as one of the characters. Encourage them to focus on feelings and reactions, not just actions.
Guide students to analyze how empathy and perspective-taking can change their views of the characters and the story overall. This cements literary analysis skills while nurturing empathy.
The main types of literary conflict in Their Eyes Were Watching God include Man vs. Man (Janie’s struggles with Jody), Man vs. Self (Janie’s internal search for love and fulfillment), and Man vs. Society (Janie facing gossip and judgment from Eatonville’s townspeople). Each conflict reveals deeper themes about identity, gender, and societal expectations.
Students can identify conflicts by looking for scenes where Janie faces opposition from other characters, herself, or society. Using a storyboard, they illustrate these moments and write brief descriptions explaining how each fits a specific conflict type—like Character vs. Character or Character vs. Self.
An example of Man vs. Self conflict is when Janie realizes that marriage to Logan Killicks hasn’t brought her happiness. She struggles internally with her expectations of love versus the reality, leading to personal growth and self-discovery.
Storyboarding helps high school students visually organize and interpret conflicts, making abstract concepts more concrete. This hands-on method boosts comprehension, encourages creativity, and aids in analyzing character motivation and plot development.
First, choose key scenes that show different conflicts. Next, categorize each as Character vs. Character, Character vs. Self, or Character vs. Society. Then, illustrate each scene and write a short explanation of the conflict below. Use clear visuals and concise descriptions to highlight the conflict type.