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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 adjective did the censors use to describe their problems with Sugata Sanshiro?

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

3. What was different about The Most Beautiful's shooting concept?

4. Who became terrified when they happened upon the shoot of Sugata Sanshiro, Part II?

5. How old was Kurosawa when he got married?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Akira Kurosawa angered by the state of Japan's film industry?

2. How did Yanamoto help Akira grow as a director?

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

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

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

6. What terrible experience does Kurosawa relate at the end of An Alleyway in the Floating World?

7. How did Kurosawa meet a famous American director without knowing it?

8. Why does Kurosawa think his writing process was flawed in Scandal?

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

10. Why does Kurosawa think Sugata Sanshiro, Part II, was a failure?

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

In SOMETHING LIKE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY, Kurosawa spends quite a bit of time discussing the techniques and virtues of Kajiro Yamamoto. Write an essay about these techniques. How does Kurosawa describe a Yanamoto set? To what extent is Yanamoto as concerned about the professional development of his assistants as he is about the quality of the film he is making? What special duties did Yanamoto give young men like Akira?

Essay Topic 3

Taken together, the events of SOMETHING LIKE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY create the arc of one boys maturing into adulthood. Throughout, Kurosawa state his personal opinion of how a child should be raised. Write an essay delineating his philosophy. Which adults form his childhood define good education for him? Which ones represent the bad educators? What is the difference between good and bad adults to him? What does this mean regarding Kurosawa's philosophy of child rearing?

(see the answer keys)

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