Pimp: The Story of My Life Test | Mid-Book Test - Hard

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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 reality of racial prejudice in the legal system is Blood faced with after his encounter with Melody?

2. Pepper turns the tables on the con Blood attempts and accuses him of what?

3. What physical surprise does Blood discover about Melody?

4. In later life, Bobby is told that being a pimp demands a certain personality trait. What is it?

5. How long does Bobby spend in Reformatory?

Short Essay Questions

1. In spite of having worked as a pimp for less than a full day in Chicago, Blood nevertheless provides Runt with a full set of "rules for whoring" in the neighborhood. Why does he do this and where would he have gotten these rules?

2. Who are the first pimps and prostitutes in young Bobby's life and how is his encounter with them a generally positive experience?

3. In Chapter 4, in spite of his quick score with Runt, what is Blood constantly reminding himself and why?

4. Blood gets up on his second day in Chicago and immediately gets high before going out for the night in Chapter 7. How does this sequence of events foreshadow a potential for backfire in Blood's plan to befriend Glass Top to get to Sweet Jones?

5. How is Bobby "torn from the nest"?

6. In what two ways does Pepper influence Blood?

7. How does Blood's experience with Pepper instill in him a desire for money?

8. Why does Bobby/Slim say that from a pimp's perspective, looking back, Steve was an idiot and played the game with Mama all wrong?

9. What is the essence of the "cop and blow" scheme in Chapter 10?

10. What is one of Slim's secrets to success for pimping in Chicago?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and comment on the irony in the fact that when Slim is released from Leavenworth, he has lost everything and everyone in his life except Mama, the person who, in his mind, drove him into the life he now leads.

Essay Topic 2

In the beginning of the book the author has Runt and only Runt to work for him. Gradually he acquires Ophelia and Chris, both of whom are described in some detail, are given names and have extensive interaction with Slim. By the end of the book, Slim routinely has 5 to 6 girls working for him at one time, sometimes 5 or 6 in multiple locations, and has high "turn-over." How do Slim's "girl-handling" techniques evolve through his pimping career and how does this progression become clear in the book? How does his business management style evolve as he ages? How does his environment affect his business (for example: the high cop to prostitute ratio in Cleveland)?

Essay Topic 3

Opinion: Like many of the Harlem Renaissance writers of youth, Iceberg Slim resorts to street vernacular and slang not just for the character dialogue in his book, but for his own first person account. In your opinion what contribution does this make to the book? Does it emphasize the gritty reality of the book? Does it make Slim just sound illiterate? Does it make the book easy or difficult to read? Does it contribute to the atmosphere of the book? Does it seem necessary?

(see the answer keys)

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