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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who sent Akira to Toyokawa Village for the summer after his fifth grade year?

2. How did his mother replace the item that Kurosawa lost in his duel in Murasaki and Shonagon?

3. What did Akira decide to do regarding the two speeches he was given to read?

4. In Kendo, what does Kurosawa recall his father doing in the morning during the war years?

5. On what public conveyance was young Akira during the events of A Long Red Brick Wall?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Forgotten Children, and how did it affect Kurosawa?

2. Why did Akira Kurosawa dislike his calligraphy tutor?

3. How does Kurosawa compare his parents' personalities in Kendo?

4. How did young Uekusa prove foolhardy?

5. What was Kurosawa's experience at Morimura Gakuen?

6. In Whirlwind, what sort of decline did Akira's older brother have?

7. What importance does Kurosawa place on mentors in Honor and Revere?

8. Describe Akira's relationship with Aunt Togashi.

9. What ethical dilemma did Kurosawa face at his graduation?

10. What embarrassments did young Akira experience at his father's hometown?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Akira Kurosawa spends a large portion of SOMETHING LIKE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY discussing his difficulties in class. Write an essay about these shortcomings and how he does or does not overcome them. What role did both his kendo instructor and Mr. Iwamatsu have in improving his performance in certain arenas? How did Kurosawa fair when military training was introduced into the curriculum? Was he able to overcome his incompetence in this realm?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay about Akira Kurosawa as an outsider in his own life. Begin by discussing his earliest memories, how he has transformed them into mini-films. What other situations from his early childhood have become fodder for his films? Discuss how his early life is marked by an analytical appraisal. Why is he able to so easily dissect his though process in deeply emotional moments from this period?

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the events of SOMETHING LIKE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY, Akira Kurosawa is clearly a city boy. From time to time, he goes to the country, and the experience is always one of growth for him. Wirte an essay about these trips and how they help him grow into an adult. How does Kurosawa's first experience with sake at his father's childhood home turn out? Why does his father later send him to Toyokaya Village? What role does the country play in the films of Akira's early career?

(see the answer keys)

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