When analysing a literary text, you should identify the type of conflict present. The main categories include:

Interpersonal Conflict — A struggle between two or more characters who have different goals, values, or interests. This often involves disagreement, rivalry, or opposition in relationships.

Intrapersonal or Self-Conflict — An internal struggle within a character, such as deciding between competing values, coping with guilt, or wrestling with personal desires versus moral obligations.

Social Conflict — A tension between an individual and the norms, expectations, or institutions of their society. Characters may challenge family expectations, cultural traditions, or political authorities.

Environmental Conflict — A struggle between characters and the natural world, including issues of survival, exploitation of resources, or the impact of human activity on the environment.

Follow these steps to properly discuss conflicts and their resolutions:

1. Identify the main conflict — Determine what opposing forces are in tension. Ask: What does the main character want? What prevents them from achieving it?

2. Classify the conflict type — Decide whether the conflict is internal (within one character) or external (between characters, society, or nature).

3. Examine how the conflict develops — Trace how the conflict begins, grows more serious, and what consequences it produces. Look for textual evidence showing escalation.

4. Analyse the character's response — Study how the character reacts to the conflict. What choices do they make? What values or goals guide their decisions?

5. Evaluate the resolution — Consider how the conflict is resolved. Is it resolved through victory, compromise, acceptance, or tragedy? Does the resolution feel satisfying or ironic?

6. Connect to themes — Ask what the conflict reveals about the text's central themes and messages. What comment is the author making about life, society, or human nature?

Consider a story where a young woman, Asha, faces a moral dilemma between accepting a well-paying job that requires her to compromise her integrity or remaining honest but unemployed and unable to support her family.

Step 1: Identify the main conflict. Asha must choose between personal integrity and economic survival for her family.

Step 2: Classify the conflict type. This is both an intrapersonal conflict (her internal struggle between values and survival needs) and a social conflict (tension between societal expectations of women's roles and individual moral standards).

Step 3: Examine how the conflict develops. At first, Asha feels tempted by the financial security the job offers. Her family pressures her to accept because they need money. As the story progresses, she discovers the job involves corrupt practices that harm other community members. Her internal struggle intensifies as she weighs her personal conscience against her family's needs.

Step 4: Analyse the character's response. Asha experiences psychological distress—she loses sleep, questions her identity, and feels torn between loyalty to family and loyalty to her moral principles. She eventually decides to refuse the job, choosing integrity over wealth.

Step 5: Evaluate the resolution. The resolution shows Asha remaining honest but facing continued poverty. However, she gains self-respect and becomes a symbol of moral courage in her community. The author uses this resolution to comment on the importance of integrity in the face of economic pressure.

Step 6: Connect to themes. This conflict explores themes of integrity versus survival, the corruption of moral values in pursuit of wealth, and the role of individual conscience in society.

• Conflict is essential to narrative structure; it creates the tension that drives the plot
• Conflicts can be external (between characters, society, or environment) or internal (within a character's mind and heart)
• Analysing conflict requires examining both the development of the conflict and its resolution
• The resolution of a conflict often reveals the author's message or theme
• Characters' responses to conflict reveal their values, traits, and development
• When evaluating resolutions, consider whether they are realistic, satisfying, or ironic in relation to the story's themes

When asked to discuss conflicts and their resolutions, structure your response as follows:

• State the main conflict clearly
• Provide textual evidence (quotes or specific events) to support your identification of the conflict
• Explain how the conflict develops and its consequences
• Describe and evaluate the resolution
• Explain what the conflict and its resolution reveal about the text's themes

Always support your analysis with specific examples from the text and explain how those examples relate to your points.

In everyday life in Tanzania, the skills of analysing conflict and resolution are valuable when mediating disputes in your community—such as disagreements over land ownership, family inheritance, or business partnerships. For example, if two market vendors in Arusha dispute over stall space, identifying each person's interests (not just their positions), understanding the underlying causes of the conflict, and proposing a fair resolution that both parties accept mirrors the same analytical process used when discussing conflicts in literary texts.