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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. In The Gleam of Fireflies, why was Kurosawa uncomfortable with the speech given him?

2. What colored animal did Akira Kurosawa think his family should have gotten when he was young?

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

4. In Crybaby, how did Kurosawa's older brother try to toughen him up in preparation face bullies?

5. In Crybaby, what was the subject of Kurosawa's artwork that Tachikawa praised?

Short Essay Questions

1. How was Kurosawa nearly killed on the way to school in this section?

2. How was Kuosawa's new art teacher different from Mr. Tachikawa?

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

4. How was young Akira humbled in The Goblin's Nose?

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

6. Describe the memories of sound that Kurosawa describes at the end of this section?

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When Akira Kurosawa began to establish himself in the film industry, the War was still going on and a group of Japanese censors were reviewing his films. Write an essay about his conflicts with the censors. What specific issues do the censors have with his early pictures? How does he respond to these issues? Discuss the way Kurosawa describes the censors int he text. How did the conflict between the censors and Kurosawa end with the War?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Akira Kurosawa ends his autobiography with the success of Rashomon, leaving out the following 35 years. Write an essay discussing Kurosawa's choice to end his book at this point. How does this decision create a tight narrative? What story is the author telling, if he is not telling his complete life story? To what extent is this book only the first chapter of Kurosawa's life, the period leading to his break into international stardom?

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