What Conflict Is

Lesson Goal

Students will learn what a conflict is, name the two sides of the main conflicts in the first half of Kipling's Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, and practice writing down reactions, questions, and guesses while they read.

Key Concepts

A conflict is a struggle between opposing sides. The sides can be two characters who want opposite things, or a character and a force, such as a flood. The opponent is whoever or whatever stands in the way of the character we follow. In this half of the story the clashes are Rikki-tikki against Nag and Nagaina, Rikki-tikki against Karait, and, before any of them, Rikki-tikki against a summer flood.

Where Students Get Stuck

Students often name the setting or the whole plot instead of the sides. If a student says the conflict is the garden, ask who wants what in the garden, and who wants the opposite. Another common slip is putting the wrong character on a side: Darzee and his wife are on Rikki-tikki's side, since Nag ate their baby.

Teaching Suggestion

Keep a notes sheet beside the student while the story plays. Three notes are plenty: one reaction, one question, one guess. Afterward, ask the student to read the notes aloud and sort the names into two sides before answering any question.

Key Vocabulary

Conflict

A struggle between two opposing sides: two characters who want opposite things, or a character and a force like a flood.

Opponent

The character or force on the other side of a conflict, the one standing in the way of the character you're following.

Force

Something with no face, like a flood or a blizzard, that works against a character the way an enemy would.

Dialogue with the Text

Talking back to a story as you read it, by writing down reactions, questions, and guesses on a sheet of paper.