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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In Murasaki and Shonagon, what does Uekusa recall about Kurosawa in school?
(a) He fought other kids often.
(b) He was painfully shy.
(c) All the girls had crushes on him.
(d) He was more popular as he got older.

2. In what two subjects did young Akira fail his exams in this section?
(a) Math and science.
(b) Literature and history.
(c) Literature and math.
(d) Science and history.

3. What job in the movies did Kurosawa's brother take in the 1930's?
(a) Narrator.
(b) Photographer.
(c) Set dresser.
(d) Assistant director.

4. At the beginning of A Distant Village, Kurosawa says he considers himself what?
(a) A lifelong student.
(b) A closet westerner.
(c) A child of the planet earth.
(d) A perpetual actor.

5. When the Depression hits Japan, what did Akira felt bad about his parents paying for what?
(a) His food.
(b) His clothing.
(c) His kendo lessons.
(d) His education.

6. In My Rebellious Phase, what dangerous material did Akira use on some of his pranks?
(a) Arsenic.
(b) Gunpowder.
(c) Raw sodium.
(d) Gasoline.

7. Who is the sapling of the chapter title in this section?
(a) Hirohito.
(b) Akira's brother.
(c) Uekusa.
(d) Akira Kurosawa.

8. As told in Storytellers, what image in a movie reduced young Akira to inconsolable tears?
(a) A paralyzed infant.
(b) A dying sled dog.
(c) An old man's suicide.
(d) An Egyptian slave girl.

9. With what evocative metaphor does Kurosawa describe his smugness in the second chapter of this section?
(a) Leopard's tail.
(b) Swollen eye.
(c) Orange skin.
(d) Goblin's nose.

10. What did Akira decide to do regarding the two speeches he was given to read?
(a) He read the other speech.
(b) He read the hated teacher's speech.
(c) He improvised at the podium.
(d) He declined to read any speech.

11. How did Akira do as a military student?
(a) He passed with flying colors.
(b) He quits and takes an incomplete.
(c) He failed.
(d) He barely passes.

12. What was the source of explosions that intermittently went off in the wake of September 1, 1923's catastrophe?
(a) An armory.
(b) A burst gas mane.
(c) A bombing raid.
(d) A fireworks stand.

13. What colored animal did Akira Kurosawa think his family should have gotten when he was young?
(a) A black dog.
(b) A yellow canary.
(c) A goldfish.
(d) A gray cat.

14. At the end of The Fragrance of Meiji, the Sounds of Taisho, Kurosawa says that is sorry children of today do not have what?
(a) The sounds of his childhood.
(b) The quality of food he had.
(c) The sense of national pride he had.
(d) The fresh air he had.

15. With whom dis young Akira explore the destroyed city in A Horrifying Excursion?
(a) His brother.
(b) Mr. Tachikawa.
(c) Uekusa.
(d) His father.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which star's westerns does Kurosawa particularly recall enjoying in Storytellers?

2. Which ethnic group was hunted and killed in the darkness following September 1, 1923?

3. How did young Akira avoid falling to his death in the events of A Long Red Brick Wall?

4. What memory brings tears to Kurosawa's eyes as he recalls it in Whirlwind?

5. What love besides movies did Akira's father pass down to him?

(see the answer keys)

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