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

2. What great act of devotion did Uekusa make regarding a girl as a child?

3. To whom does Kurosawa compare teachers like Mr. Iwamatsu at the end of Honor and Revere?

4. How does Kurosawa describe the style of institution that Kuroda Primary School is?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Mr. Tachikawa?

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

3. In Honor and Revere, how did Akira improve his math skills?

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

5. How did young Uekusa prove foolhardy?

6. What bad relationship did Akira develop at Keika Middle School?

7. Describe young Akira Kurosawa' daily schedule.

8. Describe Akira's relationship with Aunt Togashi.

9. Describe the memory of the dog in Babyhood?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about the relationship between Uekusa and Akira Kurosawa in the book. To what extent does Akira represent the intellect and Uekusa the heart? What romantic and foolhardy exploits does Uekusa undertake at a young age? Does he succeed in any of them? How does Akira deal with girls and danger at this same age? What professional relationship develops between these two men later?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay about Akira Kurosawa's sense of national identity. What does he state to the reader directly about being a child of the world? What issues did Kurosawa have with Japan during the War, and how did he subtly deny his homeland? Discuss the shift that happens in Kurosawa's attitude when Japan loses the War. What new outlook regarding his home country develops? How does this manifest itself in his interests in art and culture?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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