Exploring the World With Marco Polo: Venetian Adventurer of the Medieval Era - Essay Sample

Introduction

Marco Polo is perhaps the most famous explorer from the medieval period. His travels around Europe and Asia, especially China, got wide readership all over the world. Marco Polo was a Venetian explorer who journeyed across Europe and Asia as an envoy to Kublai Khan. Kublai Khan was an influential Mongol leader who commissioned Marco Polo to travel across the vast Mongol empire and document his experiences. Marco Polo was born in 1254 in Venice to a wealthy Italian family. His extended family raised him for most of his childhood. His father Niccolo and Uncle Maffeo were prosperous merchants who spent significant time in China, where they joined a diplomatic mission to the court. When they returned to Venice, they described an extensive empire, the biggest the world had ever seen, with a very advanced civilization. When it was time to return to China, the young Niccolo joined his father and uncle on their voyage to China, and so began, The Travels of Marco Polo. The book is among the most well-known literary works from the middle ages. The author uses descriptive language, imagery, hyperbole, simile, and diction to document his exploits across the vast Mongol empire.

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The Travels by Marco Polo was first published in 1298. It recounts the experiences and expeditions of Marco, his father Niccolo and uncle Maffeo through much of Asia as envoy to the Khan. The literary work is an account of the people and customs who were entirely different for much of Europe yet had similar and, in some cases, superior level of sophistication. The account served as n introduction of Asia to Europe. Most people in Europe had difficulty believing that such an advanced civilization can exist outside Europe, and so many of his readers took the book as fiction. The book is not all praises, as in some cases, the author openly criticizes the cultural practices of the other cultures that he came across, such as the Japanese culture. The story follows a basic geographic structure that enables the reader to follow Polo's journey as he traveled across Asia.

Throughout the book, the author relies on descriptive language to help the reader's imagination of the objects, people, and situations in the ground. Descriptive language is one of the most common literary techniques applied by writers regardless of whether they are poets or only storytellers like Marco Polo. According to BCCC Tutoring Center Rev, "descriptive writing provides literary texture to a story- Texture shows, rather than tells" (1). This effect can be seen in the story as the Wright describes the appearance of the Polos after returning from their more than the two-decade-long voyage. "In their garments also, which were mean and of coarse texture, there was nothing that resembled those of Italians" (Wright 12). Wright proceeds to describe their family home, "the situation of their family dwellinghouse, a handsome and lofty palace, was in the street of S. Giovanni Chrisostomo, and still existed in the days of Ramusio, when, for the reason that will hereafter appear, it went by the appellation of la Corte del Millioni" (12). That language does not tell, but instead shows the reader the situation which the Polo's came to find in Venice.

Some of the things Wright describes regarding the reception that the Polos received on their arrival is no surprise. The reader can expect such a reception for the main character of the story because they were away for more than 23 years. Polo had left when he was barely out of his teens and returned as an almost middle-aged man. Their faces were unrecognizable for most of the residents. Therefore, the literary tool used by the author does not necessarily serve the purpose of telling the readers what had happened, but instead, shows the readers how it happened.

There is also imagery, which is a literary technique for creating a setting for the story. Imagery develops the mood by establishing a background or setting of the story or a particular part of the story. In his book, Marco Polo proceeds to use similar techniques to describe the things that he encountered in his travels. "Palaces of various sizes and forms were erected in different parts of the grounds, ornamented with works in gold, with paintings, and with furniture of rich silks" (67). That is Polo using descriptive language to paint the right image of the place he encountered. That sentence builds the readers' imagination of what Marco Polo saw at the moment. As a reader, one gets to imagine a well-built environment with glittering works and classical paintings. Imagery provides the reader with a chance to be part of the story. Polo could not accurately describe what he saw through words; therefore, he had to rely on the readers' imagination to do the rest of the work for him. Allowing the reader to participate in the story generates a unique understanding of the story as each reader will form a unique image of the object or situation being described.

Reading The Travels will also reveal that Marco Polo was a fan of exaggeration or hyperbole. Hyperbole is a literary technique where the author exaggerates the description of an object or situation to go beyond realistic levels. Hyperbole serves the purpose of spicing up the story while at the same time showing that something was extraordinary. Hyperbole is most common in verbal communication, but it is sometimes used in written communication to improve the readers' reading experience.

Some of the typical hyperbole in The Travels of Marco Polo includes; "The instant I entered the gate, to my astonishment, up started a huge dog, big enough if his courage had been equal to his size, to fight a lion," (Wright 200). In typical situations, one would not find a dog that is big enough to fight a lion. However, the sentence qualifies as hyperbole because it contradicts with other people's accounts who were present at the Tibetian Embassy at the time. According to Wright, other accounts such as the one from Captain Rapper describes the dog as a "good-sized Newfoundland" dog (200).

Another instance of hyperbole is present in Polo's description of a cast of people in East India. Polo describes these people as having legs that are "as big as an elephant's" (Polo 43). One does not need a second account to notice that Polo's description of these people's legs is an exaggeration. A human leg needs to be as large as an elephant's, and if such were to happen, the person would most likely be suffering from a form of deformity or disease that causes the leg to swell. However, the hyperbole achieves its purpose as the reader understands that these people had legs that were larger than usual.

It is difficult to tell a story without the use of a simile. Similes help the reader understand or comprehend the magnitude of the situation or appearance of an object. Similes compare an object or a situation to another object or situation that the reader has already encountered or is likely to have done the same. Since Marco Polo was telling a tale of a civilization and objects that most of the listeners and readers had never encountered, it was expected and acceptable for him to use similes. One of the similes has already been mentioned in this work. The previous paragraph talks about how Marco Polo described people whose legs are comparable to that of an elephant (Polo 43). The goal of such a comparison was for the reader to comprehend just how large those legs were. Authors use the phrase, "as a" or "as an" to compare one thing to another. Alternatively, they opt to use the word "like" in place of "as a" or "as an" to compare two situations or objects.

In the story, while describing a specific type of oxen, Marco Polo compares them to a camel by using the word "like." Polo says, "they are accustomed to kneel like the camel, and then to rise with the burthen" (Wright 54). The phrase compares the oxen's action to that of camels, which kneel before they are loaded with luggage. It makes it easy for the reader to comprehend the oxen's action as they knelt and stood up with the luggage. Without the use of simile, Polo would have had to use several words to explain how the oxen bend to receive the luggage. Therefore, one can see that the use of simile not only improves comprehension of the concept it also saves time and space for both the author and the readers.

Finally, there is the use of diction within the story. Diction is what makes the story unique to Marco Polo. It refers to the author's choice of words to describe a particular issue or event. In the story, there are various instances of the use of diction by Polo. "The various ceremonies practiced before these idols are so wicked and diabolical that it would be nothing less than an abomination to give an account of them in this book" (Polo 3675-76). The use of the word "abomination" is a form of diction as it shows Polo's choice of words. The author had several words at his disposal, but he chose the word "abomination" to convey a specific meaning associated with religion.

The travels of Marco Polo are an exciting and educative read because it serves more than just entertainment purposes. It can also be used to give historical accounts of the people and cultures of Asia in the medieval period. However, from a literary perspective, one can see some literary techniques that are still being used by modern authors to convey information. Descriptive language, imagery, hyperbole, simile, and diction are just, but a few techniques present in the piece of literature.

Works Cited

BCCC Tutoring Center Rev. Descriptive Writing. BCCC, 2016, https://www.bucks.edu/media/bcccmedialibrary/tutoring/documents/writingareahandoutrevision/writingparagraphandoutlines/Descriptive-Writing.pdf.

Polo, Marco. The Travels of Marco Polo, the Venetian. No. 306. JM Dent & Company, 1914.

Wright, Thomas. "Travels of Marco Polo, the Venetian." (1854).