Final answer:
Internal conflict is a struggle within a character's mind or heart, often related to difficult decisions, emotions, or morals. It's different from external conflict, which involves challenges from outside forces, and it's crucial for character development and plot progression in literature.
Step-by-step explanation:
A struggle that takes place inside a character's mind or heart, and often involves a tough decision, is known as internal conflict. This type of conflict is a central element of storytelling and character development in literature, and it usually reveals the character's personal battles with emotions, morals, or desires. Unlike external conflict, which involves a character facing challenges from outside forces, internal conflict is about the battles that occur within. For example, a character may deal with an internal conflict when having to choose between fulfilling a personal dream and maintaining a family responsibility. Other common forms of internal conflict could involve making moral choices, such as deciding between right and wrong, or dealing with emotional issues, such as overcoming fear or guilt. Understanding internal conflict is crucial for analyzing narratives, as it often drives a character's actions and is key to the plot's progression. Recognizing the internal struggles characters face helps readers connect with them and adds depth to the story.