Conflict Graphic Organizer – Name the Conflict in Any Story

How it works

In a story, a conflict is a struggle between opposing forces: a character wants something and something stands against them. This conflict graphic organizer walks a reader from that struggle to its kind and its ending.

Read the full guide

Name the kind last

Readers who pick a kind of conflict first often guess. Ask who wants what and what stands in the way, and the kind is usually plain from the answer.

A graphic organizer for conflict in a novel

For a class novel, log each conflict on the tracker as it appears. When the book is finished, choose the main one and fill in the opening sheet for it.

Start with a fable: its conflict is short and easy to name.
A conflict does not have to end in a win. The last box asks how it ends, not who won.

Questions and answers

What is a conflict graphic organizer?

A one-page frame for the struggle at the center of a story. A reader fills it in during or after reading, then uses it to explain what the conflict is and what kind it is.

What are the four types of conflict?

Three are most often listed: character against character, character against nature and character against self. A fourth, character against society, is sometimes added. They are commonly worded as man versus man, man versus nature and so on.

What is the difference between internal and external conflict?

An internal conflict takes place in a character's mind, so character against self is internal. An external conflict is against another character or an outside force, such as nature.

All 10 organizers

Finding the conflict 3

Conflict and evidence: the conflict and two quotations A wide box for the conflict, two boxes for evidence with a line for the page, and a box at the foot for the kind of conflict.
Conflict exit ticket, two to a page Two half sheets with a cut line between them: the conflict, its kind and how it ends.
Conflict graphic organizer: goal, obstacle, kind, ending Four boxes joined by arrows: who wants what, what stands in the way, the kind of conflict and how it ends. The four kinds are printed in the third box.

Kinds of conflict 3

Four kinds of conflict: an example of each A box for each kind, with a line that says what it looks like, to fill with an example from a story the class knows.
Internal or external conflict A wide box for the conflict, then two boxes: whether it is internal or external, and how the reader can tell.
Kind of conflict chart with boxes to tick One row a story: its title, the conflict in a sentence, and a box to tick for the kind.

Show all 10 organizers (4 more)

Following a conflict 3

Conflict tracker for a novel: one row a conflict The chapter where a conflict starts, the conflict, its kind and whether it is resolved. A story may hold more than one conflict, and not every one is resolved by the end.
How a conflict builds: start to resolution Four boxes joined by arrows, from where the conflict starts to its resolution. The 6th grade Common Core standard asks how characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.
Two sides of a conflict A column for each side: who they are and what they want, then what they do. A box at the foot is for how the conflict is resolved.

Filled-in sample 1

Sample conflict organizer, filled in: The Tortoise and the Hare The four boxes done for Aesop's fable of the race.

How this list was compiled: Our own layouts and wording; no publisher's organizer is copied. The kinds of conflict (three commonly listed, with society sometimes added as a fourth) and internal and external conflict were checked against the Wikipedia article Conflict (narrative), read October 9, 2026. The 6th grade wording was checked against the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, reading standards for literature, read the same day. The sample retells one of Aesop's fables in our own words from the Wikipedia article The Tortoise and the Hare. Licence: own work