Conflict=problem

I like the way they're teaching conflict in school these days. When I was a kid, conflict was defined as man vs. man, man vs. himself, man vs society, etc.

That works, but it's not very easy to wrap your head around. Especially when your life is mostly kid vs. kid, kid vs. self, kid vs. society, etc. That generic "man" thing doesn't do it when you're reading something like Anne of Green Gables. That definition was too cloudy. For example, Anne serves Diana blackberry wine instead of raspberry cordial. If you're in fourth grade...where's the conflict? Diana's mother gets mad at Anne and she can't be friends with Diana anymore. Is that man vs. man? Or man vs. society? It was cloudy and vague definition that didn't quite fit the books you read. Unless it was Lord of the Flies --then it hit you on the head and oinked like a wild pig. But how often did you read that kind of book?

Anyhow...

My kids have learned a better definition. A conflict is a "problem". Even my first grader knows that every story has a problem, and the story ends when the problem is solved.

Here's a story he wrote for last night's Reading Camp Out at school:

Once I went camping. I took my friends Nick and Robert. We took my new car. Nick and Robert liked it. Finally we got to the campground. At night, we told scary stories! Hahahaha! We all got scared when we were asleep. A black bear stole all our food! We were starving in the morning. We went to a restaurant for breakfast. The End.

Reminds me of a Hemingway story. There's even a Nick: "Nick liked the car. It was shiny and fast. This is a fast car, thought Nick. It is sleek and it goes fast in the night like a car that is fast..."

You can clearly see the evolution of the plot. Beginning, rising action ("hahahaha"), crisis, resolution. No muddled middle--straight to the conflict: no food because of a bear. How do the characters solve the problem? They go to a restaurant.

Why didn't they teach it that way when I was in elementary school? Instead of planning for the GMC in my stories, I'm now going to start planning for the GMP.

Maybe my son will help.