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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. At times, Polo and Khan sit quietly to:

2. Which is the city of a thousand wells, sitting above an underground lake?

3. What is Eutropia composed of?

4. What does Polo explain that Zemrude's form is based on?

5. Why does Polo initially rely on symbols to represent people and places?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Kublai Khan listen to Marco Polo's fantastic stories about cities he's visited?

2. What does Polo not know about Armilla?

3. What does Polo come to realize about language in Hypatia?

4. Describe the city of Zenobia.

5. How does Khan react upon growing impatient with Polo's stories?

6. What is it about Anastasia that it would make slaves of men?

7. In what way is Tamara a city of perceptions and symbols?

8. What happens from time to time to the temporary part of the city of Sophronia?

9. Khan and Polo each envision model cities. From these models, what are the two men able to deduce?

10. In Chapter 4, why does Polo dissect every city he describes to Khan?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Polo plays with the concept of light and dark. Some cities have beautiful sides along with darker sides. Give examples of these, describing in detail both sides. Are the sides real or imagined? How do they complete the whole? What do you suppose are Polo's reasons for sharing both sides to the emperor? Explain your answers.

Essay Topic 2

In many of Polo's stories, there is a strong relationship between the living and the dead.

Part 1) Give specific examples from the book of cities that exhibit some type of connection between those who are alive and those who have passed on.

Part 2) Why does Polo cover this theme? Why does he return to it again and again? What is he trying to establish, either for himself or for the emperor, regarding the interconnectedness of the living and the dead?

Essay Topic 3

Khan alternates between being pessimistic and being optimistic about his empire.

1) What concerns and hopes does Khan have about his empire? Cite specific examples.

2) How do Polo's stories fuel or soothe the emperor's worries and ambitions?

3) Seeing Khan at odds with himself, how does Polo use this opportunity to expand the emperor's understanding of the cities within his empire?

(see the answer keys)

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