A great, brilliant, brave, and noble man. These are the words that some use to describe Marco Polo, 'The man who traveled the world.' Or atleast this is the illusion he tried to create.
Over the years, Marco's claims of traveling to lands far and wide, such as China, are being re-evaluated. This man says he went to China but in the many years he claimed to have spent there, he did not pick up on their language, or even one of their most popular past times, drinking tea. Along with that, no Chinese record mentions his name even though he claimed to have played an important role in China's government.
Although, when he went back to Europe and told the westerners about his amazing journey, they embraced his story with open arms. His book, "The Travels of Marco Polo" became the most read book in Europe. Even though the book used Persian terms to refer to many people and things. The other ironic thing about his book is that he wrote it with the help of a fiction writer.
So what do you think? Did the alleged hero really go to China or did he pull the greatest trick of all time?
Over the years, Marco's claims of traveling to lands far and wide, such as China, are being re-evaluated. This man says he went to China but in the many years he claimed to have spent there, he did not pick up on their language, or even one of their most popular past times, drinking tea. Along with that, no Chinese record mentions his name even though he claimed to have played an important role in China's government.
Although, when he went back to Europe and told the westerners about his amazing journey, they embraced his story with open arms. His book, "The Travels of Marco Polo" became the most read book in Europe. Even though the book used Persian terms to refer to many people and things. The other ironic thing about his book is that he wrote it with the help of a fiction writer.
So what do you think? Did the alleged hero really go to China or did he pull the greatest trick of all time?
-Jasmeen R
Period 5
1 comment:
I find it very interesting that Marco Polo may not have traveled the world as he once stated. I also enjoyed the new spin you put on the article .
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