GCSE Notes on Dennis Kelly’s DNA

I have followed comments upon the play with questions that should stimulate anindividual response to the characters and the plot.The students should comment on their understanding of the characters, themesand ideas explored in the play by using point, evidence, explain and bycommenting upon language, dramatic devices and the significance of the way inwhich the play is structured or put together.The highest marks are awarded to those students who support theirunderstanding with well-chosen evidence, which they ʻexploitʼ fully by detailedreference to specific words or dramatic devices employed for effect, in order toclarify or reinforce their points.An approach for achieving a high grade that has worked well with my ownstudents has been to give them a list of questions to think about while readingthe play. Some questions will generate insights for them and I encourage eachpupil to not the question, their answer and any quotations that support that.This gives them a substantial list of point/evidence/explain items that will beinvaluable when taking the examination. Some effort needs to be made to learnthe quotations, and I suggest a strategy for that.I also detail dramatic effects as they are used in the play, and it is will beimportant for students to be able to understand what these are, remember thenames, and comment anthem in the examination where this is relevant to thequestion.My advice for using these notes is to read through the play a scene at a time,then read the appropriate section of the notes and try to answer the questionsand not any supporting quotations. This means that you will come up with anʻindividual” reading of the play that will be somewhat different from others inyour class, which will give show the marker that you have thought about the playfor yourself. They will be looking for that to award a top grade.