GCSE Dennis Kelly | Extract Revision in DNA

English Literature Quiz - DNA - Extract 1 (Questions)

Explore a key extract from DNA where a “perfect plan” begins to unravel, and small shifts in speech, silence, and panic reveal changing power and guilt.

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Fascinating Fact:

The scene is a turning point, because the carefully managed plan collapses once the police claim to have DNA evidence linking a suspect to the crime.

In GCSE English Literature, this extract from Dennis Kelly’s DNA shows what happens when a group’s “solution” stops feeling safe. Dialogue, pauses, and reactions all highlight fear, blame, and control.

Key Terms

Turning point: A moment in the plot when events shift direction and characters must face new consequences.
Dramatic tension: The feeling of suspense or worry created as the audience waits to see what will happen next.
Stage directions: Instructions in the script about movement, expression, or sound that shape how the scene is performed.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What happens in the first DNA extract for GCSE?

In the first studied extract from DNA, the group hear that the police have forensic evidence. Their confidence starts to crack, and panic and blame begin to surface in the dialogue.

Why is this DNA extract seen as a turning point?

The extract is a turning point because the group’s plan no longer seems secure. Stakes rise, pressure increases, and characters start to question what they have done and what might happen next.

How do I analyse this DNA extract in a GCSE essay?

Choose short quotations, then comment on pauses, interruptions, and stage directions. Link these features to key themes such as guilt, responsibility, group loyalty, and fear of being caught.

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RICHARD: Phil, have you heard?

LEAH: We heard.

CATHY: They wanted to interview me.

RICHARD: You’ve heard? You know?

CATHY: Didn’t have time, but I’m gonna go back

RICHARD: So you know they’ve caught him?

CATHY: get on the telly

LEAH: How can they have caught someone who doesn’t exist?

RICHARD: I don’t know, Leah.

LEAH: Because that’s impossible.

RICHARD: Why don’t you tell them that? Why don’t you pop down the station and say “excuse me, but that fat postman with the bad teeth doesn’t actually exist, so why don’t you let him go”?

LEAH: sarcasm, that’s the lowest

CATHY: they might even give me money for it, do you think I should ask for money?

LOU: He’s gonna go to prison.

LEAH: Lou, they are not going to send him to prison because he answers a description they need more than that, they need fibres, they need samples, they need evidence.

RICHARD: DNA evidence.

LEAH: Exactly, they need DNA —

RICHARD: No, they’ve got DNA evidence.

Beat.

LEAH: What?

RICHARD: He answers the description, but they’ve got DNA evidence linking him to the crime.

LEAH: DN…What are you talking about?

RICHARD: We spoke to a reporter. They matched up the DNA evidence they found on the jumper to a police database and they came up with this man, this man who answers the description perfectly.

LEAH: That’s impossible.

RICHARD: Well it’s what happened.

LEAH: No, because, we made that description up and they got DNA from a random —

Beat. She turns to CATHY.

Cathy?

Pause. They all stare at CATHY.

CATHY: You told us to get DNA evidence. We got DNA evidence. We did what you said.

LEAH: Right.

Okay.

Hang on.

Where did you get the DNA evidence?

CATHY: From a man, like you said.

Beat.

A man down the sorting office.

They stare at her.

LEAH: What?

CATHY: Well, we thought, you know, I mean, you’d given a description so we thought, well, I thought, you know, show initiative, we’ll look for a fat balding postman with bad teeth.

They stare at her.

There were quite a few.

DANNY: Oh my God.

CATHY: What?

LOU: Oh my God.

CATHY: We showed…initiative, we —

LEAH: And who asked you to do that?

CATHY: Richard, we showed initiative.

RICHARD: That is the most stupid —

DANNY: Oh, Jesus.

CATHY: Why?

LEAH: Why? Because there is now a man in prison who is linked to a non-existent crime, answering a description that Brian gave.

LOU: Oh, Jesus Christ.

CATHY: But isn’t that…

LEAH: No, Cathy, it is not what we wanted.

Dennis Kelly, DNA (Oberon Books, 2012)

What is the immediate context for this passage?

[ ]	The group has just discovered that a man has been arrested over Adam's disappearance
[ ]	Cathy and Richard have just planted the evidence in the woods
[ ]	The group has just discovered that Adam is still alive
[ ]	Phil has just instructed the group on the plan to pin the blame on an imaginary culprit

What immediately follows this passage?

[ ]	Leah intervenes to save the innocent man
[ ]	Cathy goes to the police station to give a television interview
[ ]	The group forces Brian to go to the police station to identify the suspect
[ ]	Brian escapes from the control of the group

Under pressure, Cathy repeats herself, saying "we did what you said" and "like you said". Which of her lines contradicts these statements?

[ ]	"You told us to get DNA evidence. We got DNA evidence"
[ ]	"We showed...initiative"
[ ]	"There were quite a few"
[ ]	"They wanted to interview me"

Who shows the most awareness of the problem with having collected DNA from a person who matches the invented description?

[ ]	Lou, Leah and Danny
[ ]	Richard, Cathy and Brian
[ ]	Cathy, Richard and Leah
[ ]	Danny, Phil and Richard

What is Cathy's main concern at the beginning of this passage?

[ ]	She is worried that she has let down the rest of the group
[ ]	She is boasting about how well she carried out the plan
[ ]	She is hoping to be interviewed by a television news reporter
[ ]	She is worried about an innocent man going to prison

Which of the following lines expresses the impossibility of the situation the group has now found itself in?

[ ]	"Lou, they are not going to send him to prison because he answers a description they need more than that, they need fibres, they need samples, they need evidence"
[ ]	"They matched up the DNA evidence they found on the jumper to a police database and they came up with this man, this man who answers the description perfectly"
[ ]	"Why don’t you tell them that? Why don’t you pop down the station and say 'excuse me, but that fat postman with the bad teeth doesn’t actually exist, so why don’t you let him go'?"
[ ]	"Sarcasm, that’s the lowest"

At the end of this extract, Leah finishes Cathy's sentence for her. What does the interrupted sentence suggest about Cathy?

[ ]	She's a terrible person who has no care for other people
[ ]	She knew exactly what would happen when she used her "initiative"
[ ]	She hoped to spoil the group's plan
[ ]	She misunderstood the purpose of the task she'd been given

Whose silence during this scene is especially noticeable?

[ ]	Mark's
[ ]	John Tate's
[ ]	Adam's
[ ]	Phil's

Why is it a problem that Cathy and the others collected DNA from a postman, rather than a random person?

[ ]	It is not very plausible that a postman would be guilty of murder
[ ]	The postman will distract from the real murderer
[ ]	All of the postmen look similar, so the police will have a hard time deciding who the murderer is
[ ]	They have falsely implicated an innocent person

10.

Which of the following is correct?

[ ]	Cathy is excited to tell the group the important information about the arrest she heard from the reporters
[ ]	Richard has been given information by the reporters with whom he's spoken
[ ]	Richard is excited that he is going to be on the news
[ ]	Cathy has been interviewed for the news

English Literature Quiz - DNA - Extract 1 (Answers)

What is the immediate context for this passage?

[x]	The group has just discovered that a man has been arrested over Adam's disappearance
[ ]	Cathy and Richard have just planted the evidence in the woods
[ ]	The group has just discovered that Adam is still alive
[ ]	Phil has just instructed the group on the plan to pin the blame on an imaginary culprit

The group are worriedly discussing the new development when Cathy and Richard return straight from the police station

What immediately follows this passage?

[ ]	Leah intervenes to save the innocent man
[ ]	Cathy goes to the police station to give a television interview
[x]	The group forces Brian to go to the police station to identify the suspect
[ ]	Brian escapes from the control of the group

Brian knows he would cry because of his guilt about lying, but that the crying would paradoxically make his testimony more believable

Under pressure, Cathy repeats herself, saying "we did what you said" and "like you said". Which of her lines contradicts these statements?

[ ]	"You told us to get DNA evidence. We got DNA evidence"
[x]	"We showed...initiative"
[ ]	"There were quite a few"
[ ]	"They wanted to interview me"

Leah responds by asking her, "And who asked you to do that?"

Who shows the most awareness of the problem with having collected DNA from a person who matches the invented description?

[x]	Lou, Leah and Danny
[ ]	Richard, Cathy and Brian
[ ]	Cathy, Richard and Leah
[ ]	Danny, Phil and Richard

It is in the course of reassuring Lou, who is worried an innocent person will go to prison, that Leah realises what has happened

What is Cathy's main concern at the beginning of this passage?

[ ]	She is worried that she has let down the rest of the group
[ ]	She is boasting about how well she carried out the plan
[x]	She is hoping to be interviewed by a television news reporter
[ ]	She is worried about an innocent man going to prison

The other speakers do not capture Cathy's attention for a while as she wonders whether she might be paid for appearing on the news

Which of the following lines expresses the impossibility of the situation the group has now found itself in?

[ ]	"Lou, they are not going to send him to prison because he answers a description they need more than that, they need fibres, they need samples, they need evidence"
[ ]	"They matched up the DNA evidence they found on the jumper to a police database and they came up with this man, this man who answers the description perfectly"
[x]	"Why don’t you tell them that? Why don’t you pop down the station and say 'excuse me, but that fat postman with the bad teeth doesn’t actually exist, so why don’t you let him go'?"
[ ]	"Sarcasm, that’s the lowest"

Richard points out that no one will listen to anyone from the group and how ridiculous their claims would sound

At the end of this extract, Leah finishes Cathy's sentence for her. What does the interrupted sentence suggest about Cathy?

[ ]	She's a terrible person who has no care for other people
[ ]	She knew exactly what would happen when she used her "initiative"
[ ]	She hoped to spoil the group's plan
[x]	She misunderstood the purpose of the task she'd been given

Cathy seems to genuinely think that she was carrying out the group's plan perfectly

Whose silence during this scene is especially noticeable?

[ ]	Mark's
[ ]	John Tate's
[ ]	Adam's
[x]	Phil's

Phil will eventually step in in order to force Brian to lie and identify the man as guilty, thus protecting the group. Brian's silence is also noticeable here