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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. While on the run from the FBI, how does Slim get busted by the police?

2. How long does Rachel work for Slim?

3. What does Slim pretend to be to pull off his post-Leavenworth money-making plan?

4. What relative is newly introduced after Slim's escape from State Workforce?

5. In 1953 Slim receives a letter from Mama saying what?

Short Essay Questions

1. Slim finally feels like he is totally alone when he is released from Leavenworth in Chapter 16 and discovers Chris has married and had a baby. Is his reaction to this information purely selfish or is it possible that he has himself contemplated marrying Chris and is jealous of her ability to establish love and stability for herself?

2. Mavis is a female drug dealer and one of the few women in the story who is not a prostitute. How does Mavis being female make her an appropriate target for Slim's robbery attempt in Chapter 17?

3. How is Slim working and spending his days now that he's off the drugs and living in Seattle in Chapter 21?

4. Slim's life sinks deeper into violence after his jailbreak. How is pimping becoming less exciting and more violent in Chapter 19?

5. How has Leroy been spending his years when Slim runs across him again in prison?

6. Twice in Chapter 19, Slim turns to family for help. To whom does he go and for what?

7. What consequences to others does Slim fail to consider before or mention after his escape in Chapter 18?

8. How does Slim's reliance on drugs catch up with him in the end of chapter 15?

9. Slim manages to move past blunt physical trauma to a more elegant finesse when he realizes he's in danger of losing Rachel in Chapter 20. How does Slim employ his psychological genius once again to ensure Rachel's loyalty?

10. Why does Leroy's arrest drive Chris to work for Blood?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Chapter 21, it is the news of Party Time's demise that finally provides the impetus for Slim to pull his life together and vow to quit drugs and pimping forever. What about this loss of his first street buddy, his first con partner, causes Slim to question every life decision he has made?

Essay Topic 2

In spite of the fact that Slim owns a gun, a reasonably normal accessory for a pimp, he never kills anyone (though he does shoot Serena and attempts to shoot Steve) and very few of his associates are murdered or die by violence. Sweet Jones shoots and kills an unnamed man, though he escapes jail. Slim is shot at in the Roost but is not hurt. Henry Upshaw, Glass Top, Pretty Preston and Mama all die of various (though not necessarily unavoidable) natural causes. None of Slim's prostitutes ever is reported to die (even though Slim himself attempts to kill Runt). Slim's world is filled with anger, violence, danger, beatings, drugs, sex, prison stints and yet Slim's story is almost unaffected by traumatic deaths. Does this seem likely? Is this relative "purity" a fictional polish the author has put in the story? What other reasons might there be for this?

Essay Topic 3

Prostitution is described as an almost wholly negative experience in the book "Pimp: The Story of My Life." Certainly those that worked for Slim didn't enjoy life all that often. However, there are many prostitutes (and non-prostitutes) who defend their line of work and demand decriminalization of the sex-trade (particularly to give them the legal status to avoid falling victim to their own pimps). Research the various arguments for and against legalizing prostitution and develop your own arguments for or against it.

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