Text 1: The first morning at the museum, by Alys Morgan

An original contemporary blog.

I arrived at the town museum twenty minutes before its new exhibition opened. A short queue had already formed outside. At the desk, an attendant scanned the booking confirmation on my phone and gave me a numbered locker. Everyone with a backpack had to leave it there before going in.

When I opened my bag to take out my notebook, the attendant noticed a packed lunch inside. She checked the bag and told me that food and drinks could not be taken into the galleries, so I put the lunch in the locker too. A group of us waited for another fifteen minutes while the first visitors were admitted. Then a guide opened the doors to the galleries and we collected our numbered wristbands.

Text 2: A Saturday at the museum, by Eleanor Bell

An original letter written in a nineteenth-century voice; a period simulation, not an archival document.

In this letter, written in 1888, Eleanor Bell tells her sister about visiting a museum with her aunt.

My dear Rose, we reached the museum at two o’clock and joined a line that stretched along the pavement. At the ticket office, Aunt paid for two paper tickets, which the clerk stamped before handing them to us. We were then directed to a wooden counter, where an attendant examined the parcels carried by the visitors.

Aunt’s umbrella and my small parcel were left in the cloakroom, since nothing of that kind was allowed in the galleries. We stood waiting for half an hour while the attendant finished his inspection and the rooms were prepared. At last a bell rang, the doors to the galleries were unlocked and we were allowed to enter.

Using information from both texts, explain briefly how visitors were admitted to the galleries. Include at least one similarity and at least one difference between the two accounts.

You should make it clear which text you are referring to.