GCSE English Literature: DNA by Dennis Kelly

DNA, by Dennis Kelly, is one of the modern plays that can be studied for GCSE English Literature — it is on AQA's list of modern texts, for example. First staged at the National Theatre in 2007, it follows a group of teenagers who believe they have killed a boy they were bullying and who then go to ever greater lengths to protect themselves. The play is a modern work still in copyright, so this material does not quote it: plot, characters, themes and methods are explained in Zestly's own words.

The quiz follows the four sections of the play: the group's panic over Adam's apparent death and Phil's cover-up plan; the arrest of an innocent man after Cathy uses her 'initiative' and Brian is forced to identify him; the discovery that Adam is alive in the woods, and Phil's decision that he must die; and the aftermath, in which no one is caught but everyone is damaged. Character questions look at Phil's silent, calculating power, Leah's anxious monologues and troubled conscience, John Tate's collapse as leader, Cathy's rise, Brian's vulnerability, and the chorus-like pair Mark and Jan.

The themes covered are the ones exam questions focus on: responsibility and guilt, power and leadership in a group, loyalty against individual conscience, bullying, and the question raised by the title of whether cruelty is part of human nature — developed through Leah's speech about chimpanzees and bonobos. Dramatic methods are explained where they shape meaning: the repeated street–field–wood structure of each section, the use of monologue and silence, fragmented dialogue, and the symbolic setting of the wood.

The quiz asks twelve one-answer questions on plot, characters, themes and methods. The flashcards give a quick reference to every character and the settings. The printable written work contains eight essay-style questions of the kind set on modern texts, where you choose your own evidence from the whole play; each has a model answer and the key points a strong response should include. When you write your own answers, use short references to the play you have studied — the model answers show how to discuss a text precisely without long quotation.

  • Recall the events of each section of DNA
  • Analyse Phil, Leah, Cathy, Brian, John Tate, Adam and the chorus of Mark and Jan
  • Explain themes of responsibility, power, group loyalty and human nature
  • Comment on the cyclical structure, monologue, silence and setting
  • Plan whole-text essay answers on a modern play

Practice material written by Zestly, based on the DfE GCSE English Literature subject content (British fiction or drama since 1914) and DNA by Dennis Kelly as set by exam boards such as AQA. The play is in copyright and is described here in Zestly's own words, without quotation.

Sample question

At the start of Dennis Kelly's play 'DNA' (first staged in 2007), what situation does the group of teenagers face?

See the answer

They believe that Adam, a boy they have been bullying with a series of cruel dares, has died after falling down a deep shaft covered by a grille.

The bullying happens before the play begins. The group now faces the consequences of what they believe is Adam's death, and the play follows the choices they make to protect themselves.

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