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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. Who ordered Kurosawa to cut a scene from a movie, which he refused?

2. At the end of this section, what impelled Kurosawa to walk out on the studio?

3. Where did Kurosawa choose to shoot the fight scene from Sugata Sanshiro?

4. In An Alleyway in the Floating World, what bothered Akira about his brother's tenement?

5. What was the first position Akira took under Yamamoto Kajiro?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Rashomon catapult Kurosawa to a new level of international recognition?

2. How did Akira become disillusioned with the Proletariat Artists League?

3. Describe the incident with the censor and the gate?

4. How did Kurosawa end up directing Sugata Sanshiro?

5. Why was the final fight of Sugata Sanshiro a challenge for Kurosawa?

6. What demands did Kurosawa make of his actresses in The Most Beautiful?

7. How did an army major and Akira Kurosawa come to an agreement regarding cutting a scene from one of his films?

8. How did Akira accept japan's defeat in the war?

9. Who were Akira's major influences in becoming the man he became?

10. How did Mifune Toshiro and Kurosawa begin work together?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout much of the book, young Akira has difficulty choosing to take a stand, leading to his being called a crybaby, a coward, and a weakling. Write an essay about inaction in Something Like and Autobiography. How does Akira fail to stand up to a tyrannical teacher in his school when given the chance? Discuss how the War affords him many opportunities not to act. How, as a result of his brother's suicide, does Kurosawa nearly choose not to get into film.

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 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?

(see the answer keys)

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