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Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. What era was Kurosawa trying to capture in The Stray Dog?
2. What adjective did the censors use to describe their problems with Sugata Sanshiro?
3. Why was the shooting of the final fight in Sugata Sanshiro held up for two days?
4. In An Alleyway in the Floating World, how did the little girl respond to Akira's rescuing her?
5. Why was Akira angered the first time he saw Rashomon on television?
Short Essay Questions
1. Describe the incident with the censor and the gate?
2. Why does Kurosawa think Sugata Sanshiro, Part II, was a failure?
3. How did Akira discover the similarity he had to his brother?
4. How did an army major and Akira Kurosawa come to an agreement regarding cutting a scene from one of his films?
5. What demands did Kurosawa make of his actresses in The Most Beautiful?
6. How is Akira Kurosawa angered by the state of Japan's film industry?
7. How did Yanamoto help Akira grow as a director?
8. What was the break from the Toho, and how did it affect Kurosawa?
9. How did Rashomon catapult Kurosawa to a new level of international recognition?
10. How did Akira find his brother in An Alleyway in the Floating World?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Taken together, the events of SOMETHING LIKE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY create the arc of one boys maturing into adulthood. Throughout, Kurosawa state his personal opinion of how a child should be raised. Write an essay delineating his philosophy. Which adults form his childhood define good education for him? Which ones represent the bad educators? What is the difference between good and bad adults to him? What does this mean regarding Kurosawa's philosophy of child rearing?
Essay Topic 2
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 3
Write an essay about the relationship Akira has with his older brother. When the author is young and considered a crybaby, what pointed differences exist between him and his brother? How does his brother toughen him up at this age, and what other tactics does his brother use to make him tougher over the years that follow? how does the relationship develop in the years leading to Akira's brother's suicide? What similarities between them become clear only after the brother's death?
This section contains 1,071 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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