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DNA - Understanding the Text

Test your understanding of DNA by tracking the plot, following the group’s decisions, and thinking about how each scene builds tension and reveals consequences.

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Fascinating Fact:

Adam’s unexpected return forces a reckoning, turning a presumed victim into living proof of guilt and exposing the cost of the original lie.

In GCSE English Literature, understanding DNA means following how events link together, how characters react under pressure, and how language and structure guide your response to key moments in the play.

Key Terms

Plot: The main sequence of events in the play, including the plan, the cover-up, and Adam’s return.
Tension: A feeling of pressure or uncertainty created by danger, secrets, or difficult choices.
Subtext: The meanings and feelings suggested beneath the characters’ spoken words and actions.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

How do I understand the story of DNA for GCSE?

Focus on what the group does to hide the truth, how their plan changes, and how Adam’s return affects everyone. Think about what each scene adds to the overall story.

What should I look for when reading DNA in class?

Notice who makes decisions, who stays silent, and how they speak to each other. Pay attention to stage directions, repeated phrases, and moments where characters avoid the truth.

How can I revise DNA for the exam?

Re-read key scenes, learn a small set of useful quotations, and practise short paragraphs explaining how plot, character, and theme work together to create meaning in the play.

Try These Related Quizzes

1 .

Whose response to the event gives the play its title?

Cathy's

Leah's

Phil's

Mark's

Phil has a response ready instantly when John Tate asks him what they should all do. His plan involves collecting DNA from an innocent man

2 .

The play opens with Jan asking the question, "dead?". To which of the following does the question refer?

Someone in Mark's family has died

Jan and Mark are hoping that Adam is dead

The group of friends believe that Adam is dead

Someone in the group of friends has been joking about killing Adam

After quizzing Mark on whether he's talking about the "living dead", whether there has been a mistake, it's all a joke, or if Adam can be hiding, Jan asks, "what are we going to do?" How the group responds to the terrible event which takes place before the beginning of the play is its central problem

3 .

What did the group do to Adam?

They made him eat leaves

They made him steal vodka, run across a motorway and walk over a grille

They punched him and stubbed out cigarettes on him

All of the above

The group talk about the way in which they abused Adam, beginning with the smaller acts of bullying, insisting that Adam was enjoying the joke, and ending with the moment they begin to throw stones at him as he walks over the grille. The horrifying nature of their recount draws power from the slow buildup to this moment

4 .

Why are Cathy, Danny and Mark instructed to fetch one of Adam's jumpers from his house and place it in a bag without touching it?

Adam gets cold living in the woods and needs an extra jumper

The group plans to use Adam's jumper for a joke they are planning

The jumper will be used to gather the DNA of the "suspect"

One of the boys plans to wear the jumper to make witnesses believe they have seen Adam in the woods

Phil tells the three that they must place the jumper in the bag without touching it. He plans the operation carefully so that no traces lead back to the group of young people actually responsible for Adam's disappearance

5 .

Which of the following best describes Leah's speech in the scenes she shares with Phil?

Debate

Monologue

Malicious gossip

Thoughtless chatter

Leah discusses herself, the state of the world, the people they both know, philosophical matters and other topics with which she occupies her thoughts, while Phil remains silent. She tries to provoke a reaction from him, but does not succeed

6 .

Which of the following is correct?

Everyone in the group is in denial about what they did to Adam

John Tate, who tries to ban the word "dead", is the only person denying the reality of the group's actions

Everyone in the group responds differently to the "murder" of Adam, some with honesty and others by slowly coming to recognise reality

No one in the group denies what they did to Adam

The recount of events shows how differently each person reacts, with even John Tate eventually accepting reality by using the word "dead" himself

7 .

Whose evidence is essential for convicting the postman for the "murder" of Adam?

Adam's mother

Cathy

Danny

Brian

Brian was first ordered to tell the head that a stranger had exposed himself in the woods. When the blame has been pinned on a real person, Brian at first refuses to go to the police station to identify him; he is coerced into going when Phil threatens to give him the same treatment as Adam

8 .

Act Four opens with Jan and Mark discussing how Leah has "gone". Who takes her place in trying to win attention from Phil?

Richard

Cathy

John Tate

Danny

Richard, like Leah, cannot get any type of reaction from Phil. In the face of Phil's silence, Richard, like Leah, begins to speak philosophically, wondering about the universe and the meaning of life

9 .

What is the supposed reason for the group's abuse of Adam?

They wanted to see how far they could push him

They never liked him

Adam was responsible for getting one of the members of the group in trouble at school

All of the above

Jan and Mark hint that Adam was willing to go along with the "joking" because he so desperately wanted to join the group

10 .

What "problem" is created by Adam's reappearance?

If Adam reappears, the town will lose its new-found fondness for him

Adam's reappearance will draw attention to the activities of the group

If Adam reappears, the falsely accused postman will certainly go to prison

Adam will try too hard to be part of the "gang" again

The authorities, including the police, will not only discover that the group believed they had killed Adam, but also that they hadn't tried to save him or get help for him, had remained silent after his disappearance and framed someone for his murder

Author: Sheri Smith (PhD English Literature, English Teacher & Quiz Writer)