DNA: Writer's Methods and Techniques (AQA GCSE English Literature)

Writer’s methods and techniques

The exam question on the play DNA will ask you to analyse playwright Dennis Kelly’s methods and techniques. 

Examiners want you to consider the choices a writer makes. When considering their methods, you can refer to choices that Kelly makes with characterisation, setting and structure (or plot). If you can use subject terminology to accurately describe these methods and to identify particular language or dramatic techniques used, you will be rewarded by the examiners.

Dramatic methods

We will consider some of the dramatic methods used in DNA:

• Dramatic structure

• Stagecraft

• Language and characterisation  

Dramatic structure

• DNA is a three-act play consisting of a sequence of scenes framed around conversations between various members of a young friendship group:

  • This creates a fast-paced and intense portrayal of a crisis

  • The immediacy of each conversation adds dramatic tension in each scene

• The chronological structure also allows Kelly to slowly reveal information about Adam’s death, which builds suspense

• Kelly also uses foreshadowing: 

  • He anticipates the characters’ sinister, murderous actions when Phil puts the plastic bag on Brian’s head to show Cathy how to kill Adam

• He foreshadows each characters’ decline at the end of the play by revealing the group’s complicity in Phil’s evil plans, by presenting the flawed decisions of characters and by revealing their naivety

• By the climax, the audience witnesses Leah’s growing distress and the deterioration of Brian’s state of mind, while other characters ignore them

• The playwright employs a cyclical structure, opening the play and ending on the street:

  • This implies that the issues presented in the play will continue, reinforcing the central theme of nihilism

• Kelly has suggested in an interview that like other modern dramas, DNA has tragic and humorous elements but does not neatly fit into a theatrical genre of tragedy, comedy or tragicomedy

Stagecraft

• DNA takes place in three restricted settings (a street, a field, and a wood), conveying the impression that the characters are isolated from the outside world, inhabiting neglected spaces  

  • The wood is dark and mysterious, while the field offers seclusion

• Kelly’s minimalist stage directions are suggestive of realist or naturalistic drama, which contributes to the play’s dark humour, its sense of banality and the characters’ cynicism

  • Stage directions signal that at dramatic or comedic moments a “beat” should sound, emphasising key moments 

• The absence of a narrator contributes to the insularity of the group:

  • Kelly is able to simply depict events 

• Kelly uses juxtaposition to highlight themes, such as when he places scenes of loud and frantic confrontation next to Leah’s monologues to the silent Phil

  • Kelly raises themes such as mental health, human nature and empathy, by showing Leah’s isolation and Phil’s disturbed state of mind

• Kelly’s use of the props reveals a motif of snacks, which is effective in conveying Phil’s unnerving lack of compassion: 

  • The stage directions have Phil put “his Coke carefully on the ground” before instructing the group to cover up Adam’s death and he “opens his crisps” when Leah has attempted to strangle herself 

  • At times this provides dark humour, such as when he “stops buttering the waffle”, thinks about speaking, and then “continues with his waffle”

• The dramatic resolution — without Leah — emphasises her absence in the community, and is suggestive of a bleak future:

  • Kelly builds up this poignant scene by showing Phil gradually beginning to engage with Leah although she does not recognise this 

  • Phil’s final words plead for her to reply as she leaves the scene

Language and characterisation

When analysing language in a play such as DNA, consider how Kelly uses language (mainly in the form of dialogue) to develop his characters. Look for patterns in a character's dialogue, key phrases or the tone of their speech.

Language

• Kelly’s modern play uses colloquial words and taboo language to add realism and to  present the teenagers’ casual response to Adam’s torture, as well as their cynical and nihilistic attitude:

  • Mark describes how they made Adam “nick some vodka”, and how they “pegged” a stone at him

  • The use of swear words underlines the group’s willingness to transgress  boundaries 

• Kelly’s language builds dramatic tension in the dialogue between characters: 

  • Kelly uses a condensed, elliptical style, in which characters interrupt each other, repeat words, or do not finish sentences

  • This reflects the intimacy of group and adds realism, representing natural and spontaneous speech between teenagers   

• Stage directions add to the dramatic tension by normalising violence:

  • Kelly directs the scene of Leah strangling herself with dynamic verbs as she “falls to her knees”, “Grits her teeth and squeezes” and “struggles”

  • In contrast, Brian is directed as “giggling” inside the plastic bag Phil is “making airtight”

• Kelly uses metaphorical, sensory language to convey ideas about innocence and hope versus evil and fear:

  • Phil threatens Brian by describing falling off the grille in short sentences to emphasise the sensory experience: “Into the cold. Into the dark.”

  • Adam describes his experiences in the repetition of contrasting language (“light”/”dark”) which connects fear to darkness, and hope to light (redemption)

Characterisation  

• The play opens in media res as Mark and Jan are repeating each other’s words, as if struggling to come to terms with reality or make each other understood:

  • The characters’ use of informal language (“joke”, “not funny”) and their seeming inability to articulate themselves reflects their immaturity and implies deep-rooted communication problems  

  • Kelly’s use of repetition serves to underscore the word “dead”, symbolising both the (young) age of the group and their flippant attitude towards Adam’s death

• Kelly conveys ideas about personal responsibility through Mark’s language too:

  • He avoids the consequences of their actions, “And he drops. Into... Into the er..."

  • Later, John tries to ban the word “dead”

• The play’s title becomes significant when Leah speaks about DNA:

  • She says "If we’d discovered bonobos before chimps our understanding of ourselves would be very different" 

  • Leah’s allegory raises questions about society’s understanding of human nature, and their capacity for empathy or cruelty 

• Kelly portrays characters who lack compassion through their dialogue:

  • For example, John calls Brian a “crying little piece of filth”, depicting his capacity for cruelty

Sources

Kelly, D. (2021). DNA. Bloomsbury Publishing.