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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. After the people of Chloe lock eyes with each other for a moment, what do they do?

2. Polo offers two vantage points of Zemrude; one includes:

3. Maurilia was once:

4. Someone traveling to Maurilia will be invited to what?

5. When do merchants from many different nations gather at Euphemia to trade?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the significance of the evening breeze that Khan and Polo enjoy while conversing on the steps of the palace?

2. What does Polo not know about Armilla?

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

4. Even though Zobeide, the white city, was made from the dreams of many men of different nationalities, how do strangers see the place?

5. Why does Polo say that it is best to visit Diomira on a September evening?

6. Describe life in Eutropia, which is made up of many individual cities of equal size.

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

8. How does the information provided to Khan by his other messengers differ from what Polo shares?

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

10. How is Maurilia connected to its past?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Towards the end of the book, Khan's confusion regarding the state of his cities grows.

Part 1) How does Polo use chess and strategy in an attempt to help Khan understand how cities rise and fall?

Part 2) How is Khan's confusion reflected in the confusion represented by the cities described in Polo's stories?

Part 3) Do the two main characters ever find their way out of the maze of confusion? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

After hearing Polo tell so many varied, interesting stories reflecting the state of Khan's empire, what conclusion does the emperor reach? What has he been trying to learn all along from Polo's stories? Does he get the information he seeks? What does Khan decide or realize about his empire by the end of the book?

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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