AQA GCSE in English Literature · Free · no account needed
DNA
Dennis Kelly · Written for the National Theatre's Connections programme · First professional staging 2008 · Set text on AQA GCSE English Literature (8702) — Modern texts option; not on Pearson Edexcel International GCSE (4ET1) — 8702 Paper 2, Section A — Modern texts (closed book; one essay from a choice of two, no extract)
A boy goes missing, a group decides what the truth will be — and the quietest of them decides what happens next.
Two ways to study it
- Grade 9 Notes — condensed and exam-focused: 5 full character studies, 4 themes, quotation analysis, thesis statements and essay plans.
- The Complete Guide to DNA — the long version: 32 chapters from the world behind the text to the examination.
The characters
- Phil — The silent boy who eats, listens — and then takes control · notes · character analysis, then teach it and defend it
- Leah — The talker who asks the questions nobody wants to answer · notes · character analysis, then teach it and defend it
- John Tate — The leader by threat who loses his grip · notes · character analysis, then teach it and defend it
- Cathy — The girl who finds she enjoys it · notes · character analysis, then teach it and defend it
- Brian — The boy who wanted to tell and was made to lie · notes · character analysis, then teach it and defend it
The themes
- Responsibility and guilt — Everyone in the group is involved; almost no one takes responsibility, and the play asks who is to blame. · notes · teach it and defend it
- Power and leadership — Three kinds of leadership pass through the group: threat, cold reason, and violence. · notes · teach it and defend it
- The group and belonging — The need to belong drives both the bullying and the cover-up. · notes · teach it and defend it
- Violence and its normalisation — Violence starts as a game and becomes ordinary. · notes · teach it and defend it
Think you understand it?
In Literature the thing you master is an interpretation. Each study above has two gates: Teach it — explain your reading to Ember, an AI pupil — and Defend it — hold it against Dennis Kelly in a structured debate marked against descriptors you can read first. Completely free.