GCSE Dennis Kelly | Character Revision in DNA

English Literature Quiz - DNA - Character (Questions)

Explore the characters in DNA and how power, guilt, and peer pressure shape their choices, from Phil’s quiet control to the group’s uneasy attempts at survival.

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Fascinating Fact:

Phil is a silent strategist who takes control through calm, methodical plans, revealing power that relies on detachment rather than charisma.

In GCSE English Literature, character questions on DNA ask you to explore how personalities, relationships, and group dynamics reveal themes such as guilt, bullying, responsibility, and the abuse of power.

Key Terms

Characterisation: The methods a writer uses to present a character’s personality, beliefs, and behaviour.
Status: The level of power or authority a character holds within a group or relationship.
Moral responsibility: A character’s duty to act ethically and accept the consequences of their choices.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

How should I write about characters in DNA for GCSE?

When writing about characters in DNA, link their actions and dialogue to themes such as guilt and peer pressure. Use short, well-chosen quotations and analyse key words and stage directions.

Why is Phil important in DNA?

Phil is important because his calm, controlling behaviour drives the group’s decisions. His emotional distance raises questions about leadership, conscience, and what happens when others follow without challenging him.

Which themes are linked to the characters in DNA?

The characters in DNA are closely linked to themes of bullying, loyalty, fear, guilt, and shared responsibility. Their reactions to the cover-up show how pressure can distort moral choices.

Try These Related Quizzes

Which character is always described in stage directions as eating or drinking?

[ ]	Leah
[ ]	Mark
[ ]	John Tate
[ ]	Phil

Who decides to frame a real person for Adam's disappearance?

[ ]	Cathy
[ ]	Leah
[ ]	Jan
[ ]	Phil

Who focusses most on the impact the incident will have on his future career?

[ ]	Phil
[ ]	Danny
[ ]	Mark
[ ]	Lou

Who experiences a religious conversion after the "murder"?

[ ]	John Tate
[ ]	Adam
[ ]	Jan
[ ]	Brian

Who shows the most concern for Adam when he is discovered living in the woods?

[ ]	Brian
[ ]	Cathy
[ ]	Leah
[ ]	Richard

Which of the following is NOT correct of Adam?

[ ]	He claims not to be frightened in the woods
[ ]	He cares for himself well in the woods
[ ]	He is able to feed himself
[ ]	He has some difficulty speaking

Who wants to be on TV?

[ ]	Leah
[ ]	Cathy
[ ]	John Tate
[ ]	Lou

Which character appears to lose his mind under pressure from the group's actions?

[ ]	Phil
[ ]	Mark
[ ]	Brian
[ ]	Richard

Who forces John Tate to face up to reality by repeatedly stating, "He's dead"?

[ ]	Phil
[ ]	Richard
[ ]	Brian
[ ]	Lou

10.

Who tries to get Phil to return to the group at the end of the play?

[ ]	Mark
[ ]	Danny
[ ]	Richard
[ ]	Leah

English Literature Quiz - DNA - Character (Answers)

Which character is always described in stage directions as eating or drinking?

[ ]	Leah
[ ]	Mark
[ ]	John Tate
[x]	Phil

Phil is often non-responsive, especially when Leah talks to him. He listens and rather than responding, continues eating or drinking

Who decides to frame a real person for Adam's disappearance?

[x]	Cathy
[ ]	Leah
[ ]	Jan
[ ]	Phil

Phil directs Cathy, Danny and Mark to get a stranger's DNA on one of Adam's jumpers. Cathy decides to find a postman who fits the description of the fictitious perpetrator Phil has decided upon. Although the group undertake this task together, Cathy later claims it as her own idea

Who focusses most on the impact the incident will have on his future career?

[ ]	Phil
[x]	Danny
[ ]	Mark
[ ]	Lou

Danny's first response to the "murder" and to later developments is to think about the consequences for his desired dentistry career

Who experiences a religious conversion after the "murder"?

[x]	John Tate
[ ]	Adam
[ ]	Jan
[ ]	Brian

Leah later reports to Phil that John Tate "joined the Jesus Army [and] runs round the shopping centre singing and trying to give people leaflets"

Who shows the most concern for Adam when he is discovered living in the woods?

[ ]	Brian
[ ]	Cathy
[x]	Leah
[ ]	Richard

Leah questions Adam about how he has been living and is opposed to abandoning him there as Phil and the rest of the group decide. She does not, however, go against the group

Which of the following is NOT correct of Adam?

[ ]	He claims not to be frightened in the woods
[x]	He cares for himself well in the woods
[ ]	He is able to feed himself
[ ]	He has some difficulty speaking

Adam is surviving in the woods, but he is confused and dirty, with the dried blood from his injuries still apparent

Who wants to be on TV?

[ ]	Leah
[x]	Cathy
[ ]	John Tate
[ ]	Lou

Cathy seems to enjoy being at the centre of the drama. It is fitting that she creates a more complex fiction by deliberately implicating a real person in the fabricated explanation for Adam's disappearance

Which character appears to lose his mind under pressure from the group's actions?

[ ]	Phil
[ ]	Mark
[x]	Brian
[ ]	Richard

Brian cannot face giving false evidence against the innocent man identified by the police as responsible for Adam's disappearance. During Act Three, he begins to fantasise about eating earth and giggles when Cathy slaps him