Passage21

 “Whenever I write about Leopold and Loeb,” says playwright John Logan, “I feel their ghosts hovering over me and, oddly enough, a sense of responsibility. I feel compelled to promise not to mess up their story, to tell it honestly and effectively.” Logan was speaking of Nathan Leopold, Jr. and Richard Loeb, the Chicago youths who, in 1924, kidnapped little Bobby Franks, bludgeoned him to death and thus became two of the most notorious figures in the history of crime.
 But Logan could well have been delivering his own artistic credo. Of all the young playwrights scribbling in the off-Loop arena, Logan seems to have the most singular mission. He writes about sensational murders, the ones that make tabloid headlines in their time and fascinate criminologists forever afterward.
 A lot of docu-dramatists and made for television movie scenarists do that. But Logan has unique ability to climb the minds of is killer (or accused killers) and present their motives and feelings, as well as chronicled facts. In “Never the Sinner,” which Storm field Theatre produced in 1985 and which has been optioned for a London production, Logan detailed convincing glimpses of what he imagines the emotional relationship between Leopold and Loeb might have been like. (In fact, there is almost no record of what they said privately to one another.)

- Excerpted from “Crime Does Pay” by Sid Smith -

1. Who were Leopold and Loeb?
 a. Playwrights    b. Murderers
 c. Actors    d. Kidnap victims
2. Why is Logan’s statement, “I feel their ghosts hovering over me” effective?
 a. It reveals his haunting and ghoulish personality.
 b. It proves that he is psychic and communicates with the dead.
 c. It describes his decision to write about the supernatural.
 d. It suggests that he feels the actual presence of characters.
3. Which of the following headlines would probably interest Logan?
 a. Cops Shoot Burglar in Self-Defense
 b. Youth Accidentally Sets Garage on Fire
 c. Lizzie Border Kills Her Parents with an Ax
 d. Two Teenagers Kill Themselves in a suicide Pact
4. According to the reviewer, what is Logan’s unique ability?
 a. He delves into the emotions and motives of a criminal mind.
 b. He tells stories honestly and effectively.
 c. He understanding the psychological makeup of crime victims.
 d. He distorts newspaper accounts of crimes.
5. What can the reader infer that Logan does before he writes a script?
 a. He watches documentaries. b. He travels to other countries.
 c. He analyzes children’s stories. d. He conducts library research.