American Literature / Unit 2 AML 0106 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Conflict: Internal, External, and the Antagonist
Captions available
The idea
Conflict is the opposition a story runs on. External conflict sets a character against another person, against nature or against society. Internal conflict sets a character against themself. The antagonist is whoever or whatever opposes the protagonist, and need not be a person at all.
In practice
Against another, against the world, against oneself.
Where people slip
In American fiction the antagonist is often a society.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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