Analyzing Author's Purpose and Perspective in a Travelogue Answers

Map of Europe and Asia showing Marco Polo's route in red dashes and arrows.

What are the main purposes of a travelogue? Select three options.to inform readers about a place, landscape, or cultureto persuade readers to visit a certain locationto convince readers that something is trueto describe the ideas of a famous historical figure to readersto entertain readers with stories of a journey

Read the excerpt from chapter 8 of The Travels of Marco Polo.Dhofar is a fine city of great size and splendor lying about 500 miles north-west of Shihr. Here again the people are Saracens and worship Mahomet, and are subject to a count who is likewise subject to the sultan of Aden. You must understand that this city is still within the province of Aden. The city stands on the sea and has a very good port, frequented by many merchant ships that import and export great quantities of merchandise. Many good Arab steeds, and horses from other lands as well, are brought here, and the merchants make a handsome profit on them. The city has many other cities and towns under its sway. Here again good incense grows in profusion - I will tell you how.

Read the excerpt from chapter 8 of The Travels of Marco Polo and study the map.[This] is an island lying about 1,000 miles south of Socotra. The people are Saracens who worship Mahomet. They have four sheikhs—that is to say, four elders—who exercise authority over the whole island. You must know that this island is one of the biggest and best in the whole world. It is said to measure about 4,000 miles in circumference. The people live by trade and industry. More elephants are bred here than in any other province; and I assure you that not so many elephant tusks are sold in all the rest of the world put together as in this island and that of Zanzibar.

Read the excerpt from The Travels of Marco Polo and study the map.When the traveler leaves Kuh-banan he goes for fully eight days through a desert. . . . After these eight days he reaches a province called Tun and Kain, where there are cities and towns in plenty. It is situated on the northern borders of Persia. There is an immense plain here, in which stands the Solitary Tree, which the Christians call the Dry Tree.

Read the excerpt from chapter 8 of The Travels of Marco Polo.And let me tell you something else. They have sheep here that have no ears, nor even ear-holes; but in the place where ears ought to be they have little horns. They are small creatures and very pretty. And here is something else that may strike you as marvelous: their domestic animals—sheep, oxen, camels, and little ponies—are fed on fish. They are reduced to this diet because in all this country and in all the surrounding regions there is no grass; but it is the driest place in the world.

Read the excerpt from chapter 8 of The Travels of Marco Polo.I should add that ships cannot sail to the other islands that lie farther south, beyond Madagascar and Zanzibar, because the current sets so strongly towards the south that they would have little chance of returning. Therefore they do not venture to go. You may note that ships coming from Maabar to this island make the voyage in twenty days, whereas the return trip takes them all of three months; and this is due to the continual southward set of the current. It flows in the same direction the all time—southward, ever southward. These more southerly islands, which men do not willingly visit because of this southward drift, are very numerous, and it is said that they are inhabited by gryphon birds, which make their appearance here at certain seasons of the year.

Read the excerpt from chapter 8 of The Travels of Marco Polo.Kalhat is a large city lying inside the gulf which is also Kalhat. It is a fine city on the sea-coast 600 miles north-west of Dhofar. The people are Saracens who worship Mahomet. They are subject to Hormuz; and whenever the malik of Hormuz is at war with neighbors more powerful than himself, he comes to this city, because it is strongly built and situated, so that here he is afraid of no one. No corn is grown here, but it is imported by sea from other places. This city has a very good port, much frequented by merchant ships from India. They find a ready market here for their wares, since it is a centre from which spices and other goods are carried to various inland cities and towns. Many fine war horses are exported from here to India, to the great gain of the merchants. The total number of horses shipped to India from this port and the others I have mentioned is past all reckoning.

Read the excerpt from chapter 8 of The Travels of Marco Polo.Many marketable commodities are produced here. And many ships come here laden with cloth of gold and various silken fabrics, and much else besides that I will not attempt to specify, and exchange them for local products. They arrive and depart with full cargoes and the merchants make a handsome profit on the transaction.