Question

Read the excerpt from "An Image of Africa: Racism in

Conrad's Heart of Darkness" by Chinua Achebe.
Travelers with closed minds can tell us little except
about themselves. But even those not blinkered, like
Conrad, with xenophobia, can be astonishingly blind.
Let me digress a little here. One of the greatest and
most intrepid travellers of all time, Marco Polo,
journeyed to the Far East from the Mediterranean in
the thirteenth century and spent twenty years in the
court of Kublai Khan in China. On his return to Venice
he set down in his book entitled Description of the
World his impressions of the peoples and places and
customs he had seen. But there were at least two
extraordinary omissions in his account. He said
nothing about the art of printing, unknown as yet in
Europe but in full flower in China. He either did not
notice it at all or, if he did, failed to see what use
Europe could possibly have for it. Whatever the
What is Achebe's purpose for writing this passage?
O to explain that people with closed minds may not
notice wonderful things around them, and their
description of a situation may not include everything
O to explain the significance of Marco Polo's journeys
in our culture's growth and to highlight the most
important lessons he taught about the places and
customs he saw
O to explain that people who read a text with a closed
mind will likely miss important details and come
away with an incomplete perspective
O to explain the significance of the Great Wall of
China and the damage caused by ignoring it when
describing a culture's growth and development over
time

Answer 1

Achebe's purpose for writing this passage is to explain that people who read a text with a closed mind will likely miss important details and come away with an incomplete perspective.

Step-by-step explanation:

He uses the example of Marco Polo's omission of the art of printing in his account of his travels to illustrate how someone can overlook significant information. Achebe emphasizes the importance of keeping an open mind and being aware of one's own biases in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of different cultures and perspectives. Achebe's purpose for writing this passage is to explain that people who read a text with a closed mind will likely miss important details and come away with an incomplete perspective.