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Please grade this English Lit essay

'Kelly makes mention of many characters who are both bullies, and are bullied themselves. How does this affect the characters themselves?’

In DNA, Kelly revolves the plot around the complexities in teenagers and their relationships; focusing on how certain individuals can be responsible for the damage they inflict on others. Therefore,the complexities in relationships, deals with how some characters can be victims of bullying and how others can be bullies. The result of the bullying may include physical and psychological pain on the characters, which may result in other events in the play.

Through Kelly’s portrayal of Phil’s ‘silent treatment’ and lack of acknowledgement of Leah in the play - when she is looking for assurance and security - encourages her to commit ever more extreme actions to gain Phil’s attention and approval. In Scene 2 Act 2, Leah kills her hamster: “I put the point of the screwdriver on his head and I hit it with a hammer. Why do you think I did that?” Through Phil’s and Leah’s relationship, Kelly is showing the audience that you can also be bullied by someone you love, however the fact that Leah doesn’t notice that she is being psychologically damaged, could be Kelly stereotyping teenagers as immature and naive, as they cannot distinguish between the right and the wrong. The rhetorical question almost makes the audience answer the question themselves - although perhaps not intended, as Phil is meant to answer the question - the audience could simply argue that she did it specifically for this moment of time: she is so desperate for a response from Phil -which she gets in the form of a ‘shrug’, again highlighting his ignorance towards Leah.
Kelly also shows how bullying could make you do something which you may not be comfortable about, but you have to do it; to fit in. It can be argued that Leah killed her pet hamster, because her insecurities made her feel the need to mirror the atmosphere that she is surrounded by. For example, Adam’s death has an element of horror involved, and Leah actions are no worse. They both have something similar: death. Although, the audience learn that Leah does not feel comfortable in this environment, ‘can I just say John we haven’t done anything’, yet her action of killing her pet(something which she is meant to love and therefore not be comfortable with) could suggest the unjustifiable reason is that she wants attention - her desire for attention had been evident through a variety of techniques from monologues to to doing something physical. Therefore, Kelly shows that bullying can stop someone from being themselves and make them take part in certain actions which do not represent their moral character.

Similarly, Kelly illustrates how characters ,like Phil, may bully the vulnerable, for their own and other people’s benefit. In Scene 2 Act 3, Phil wants to manipulate Brian. He does this by threats of intense physical violence;even death: “We’ll take you up the grille now… You’ll fall into the cold. Into the dark. You’ll fall on Adam’s corpse and you’ll rot together.’’ . The fact that Phil finally speaks - about something of great significance - and speaks for a reasonable amount of time, could suggest that he gains pleasure by blackmailing a timid character; someone who is much weaker from the inside. His use of adjectives ‘dark’ and ‘cold’, not only make his argument more convincing, but portray him as a spiteful and evil-minded character, as these words paint a dark and sinister image in Brian’s mind - which are then used against him to go to the police station. Furthermore, the short sentences -when spoken - act as a large list. This is very powerful and convincing, as it is suggesting the endless torture to Brian, if he fails to obey the instructions. Through Kelly’s stage direction, he shows how bullies can be treacherous. For example, before Phil comes and speaks to Brian about the task, his body language is gentle and reassuring: ‘Phil walks over to Brian and lays a hand on his shoulder’, contrasting with what he says to him, later on. This implies that Phil will only bully Brian into the task, when he fails to understand politely:“No, Phil”. Therefore, this could suggest bullies will only bully when they need to. Another layer of meaning could be that sometimes bullying can be necessary. For instance, the audience might see bullying Brian into lying as a legitimate reason to keep the others out of trouble. Although, no one had empathy for the person being bullied and the consequences of their actions : Brian could not deal with the guilt and is prescribed medicine to help him cope, at the end of the play.

Overall, Bullying plays a central part in the play, as it it is the theme that got the play started. Throughout the play, Kelly shows that teenagers lack with the understanding and the consequences of their actions, as they are portrayed with inability to think ahead (e.g. Cathy doesn’t understand the consequences of her actions as they put ‘a man in prison who is linked to a non-existent crime’) and lack with empathy.

Reply 1

ByronicHero

Which qualification is this for?

Reply 2

Changing Skies

Original post by ByronicHero

Which qualification is this for?

Appears to be GCSE looking at OP's post history :smile:

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 3

BULL14

Yes it is English Literature GCSE

BUMP

BUMP

Hi, Bull14.
I teach GCSE Literature: for which specification is this?
I taught WJEC and teach Edexcel, so can give it a go, should it be one of those!

Reply 7

BULL14

Original post by drrebeccakirby

Hi, Bull14.
I teach GCSE Literature: for which specification is this?
I taught WJEC and teach Edexcel, so can give it a go, should it be one of those!

Thankyou so much for the offer :smile:

. This essay is for AQA English Literature Modern Prose and Drama.

Reply 8

drrebeccakirby

OK, I've given it a go: I don't teach this exam board, but have taught GCSE for 16 years. I've marked it as if you are attempting the Higher Tear.

I've given you a Band 5 for you essay, with a total of 22 marks out of 30. For your SPG, I've awarded you 4/4, so a total of 26/34 marks for this section.

You show clear understanding of the text and theme, as well as using quotes well. However, you need to deepen your analysis in order to attain the top marks of Band 5/lower Band 6. There is analytical use of details to support interpretation - this is very good: with a little tweaking you could push yourself up to 24-25/30.

I hope this helps :smile:

Reply 9

BULL14

Original post by drrebeccakirby

Thankyou so much You are a star. Unfortunately, I have a very incompetent teacher, who has not taught us the play very well. Therefore, we have had to learn it ourselves. Due to your prior experience I am sure you are aware that there are not many resources for DNA by Dennis Kelly, so I was wondering if you had made any resources that I could possibly use.

I can not thankyou enough :smile:

Reply 10

drrebeccakirby

https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/dna-by-dennis-kelly-6182735

Take a look at these!

Reply 11

HarunH1

I thought explaining the situation isn't necessary. Just like 'page 9828424, chapter or w/e 283283, person x is doing this ...'. It's pretty much what i did and i got full marks on my eng lit coursework lol.

Reply 12

BULL14

Original post by drrebeccakirby

https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/dna-by-dennis-kelly-6182735

Take a look at these!

Thankyou very much again.

Unfortunately I cannot access this. Could you please try linking this with a PDF Doc

It is a Fail a U

This is VERY VERY old but what do you mean by

Reply 15

Buchi Mikes

The content of the essay is seemingly okay. Though you need to master a few things about paragraphing and other elements that make quality and coherent essays.