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

2. In Morimura Gakuen, what is significant about the young boy that Akira Kurosawa mentions specifically from Forgotten Children?

3. When the Depression hits Japan, what did Akira felt bad about his parents paying for what?

4. How did Akira do as a military student?

5. Which of the following is not a physical reaction that Kurosawa had to being challenged in primary school?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Akira Kurosawa's earliest memory?

2. How did Kurosawa's brother toughen him up as a child?

3. How did young Uekusa prove foolhardy?

4. Why does Akira Kurosawa not understand the concept of hometowns?

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

6. How was Akira Kurosawa introduced to film at an early age?

7. Who is Mr. Tachikawa?

8. Why did Akira Kurosawa not fight in the military?

9. Describe the memory of the dog in Babyhood?

10. How did young Akira put is Kendo into practice in self-defense?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

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

Each of the three schools that Akira Kurosawa attends offers a set of harrowing challenges for the young boy. As such, they each offer a chance for growth. Write an essay comparing these three schools. What challenges does each offer young Akira? Do these challenges defeat him, help him grow, or both? What mentors and compatriots does Akira meet at each? How is the Akira that leaves different from the one that enters?

Part 1) Morimura Gakuen.

Part 2) His second, unnamed school.

Part 3) Keika Middle School.

(see the answer keys)

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