History detectives: compare two accounts

Two sources, one invented event

We are investigating a pretend town exhibition. These sources were written for this lesson, not discovered in an archive. A poster announces an opening date. A visitor's letter describes her own visit. Both may help, but they do not answer every question in the same way.

Read a source's purpose

The poster says the exhibition opens June twelfth at ten in the morning. That directly supports what was advertised. It does not prove the doors opened at exactly ten. A plan and what actually happened can differ. Even a beautiful poster cannot make a late door unlock itself.

Read a personal account carefully

Ada writes on June thirteenth that yesterday was opening day. She arrived after lunch and liked the model train best. This tells us about Ada's visit and reaction. It does not show that every visitor liked the train or that Ada saw every room.

Find the shared detail

The poster names June twelfth. Ada's letter is dated June thirteenth and calls yesterday opening day. Those clues point to the same date. Agreement supports that detail. We still ask how sources were made; agreement is useful evidence, not a magic guarantee that every statement is true.

Pause: whose reaction do we know?

Pause and decide whether Ada's letter proves every visitor enjoyed the model train. Name the evidence we actually have. Then name the extra claim the question adds. This is a useful detective habit: separate a small supported statement from a much bigger unsupported one.

Keep the claim within the evidence

We know Ada wrote that she liked the train. We do not know every other visitor's reaction. To investigate those reactions, we would need more suitable sources, such as other visitors' accounts. To estimate attendance, a visitor-count record would fit better than a list of favorite displays.

One letter can answer two questions

Fun fact: a personal letter can be evidence about both an event and its writer. Ada's letter gives a date clue and also tells us what caught her attention. The same page can help with different questions, as long as we keep its limits clear.

Compare before you conclude

Continue to the worksheet and read both fictional sources. Identify what each says directly, find a detail they share, and notice questions they leave unanswered. Give careful answers even when the evidence is incomplete. Saying we do not know yet can be the most accurate conclusion.