Final answer:
In an essay about Marco Polo, one should include his travels to the court of Kublai Khan, his role as an official there, and detailed descriptions of the places he visited like Kinsay.
Step-by-step explanation:
When writing an essay or creating a presentation about Marco Polo, several key aspects of his life and achievements should be included. First, his journey to the East and the court of Kublai Khan, where he found favor and became an official at the court. His travels allowed him to visit regions previously unseen by Europeans, and his resulting descriptions of places such as Kublai Khan's palace and Kinsay (now Hangzhou) were notable for their level of detail.
Additionally, Polo's experience traveling within the Mongol Empire, talking about his personal experiences with paper money, coal, and a form of pasta, helps depict the technological and cultural exchanges between the East and West. It's also essential to address the skepticism regarding Polo's accounts, noting the absence of mention of Chinese customs like tea-drinking or foot-binding, and to discuss the influence his book, "Travels of Marco Polo," had on future explorers like Columbus. Lastly, Polo's observation on the trade of Mediterranean coral illustrates the wider context of global trade networks existing at the time.