Graduate / TOEFL: Why do people visit museums? Curiosity [5]

Kindly grade a TOEFL essay I have written and advise me for improvement

Many people visit museums when they travel to new places. Why do you think people visit museums? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

Curiosity is the most significant of all the traits of human nature. It is this eagerness of humans which prompts them to look beyond the world visible to them. Consequently since time immemorial we find people in a constant strive of increasing their knowledge and gaining experience. This has lead to people travelling to places unknown to them and discovering the diversity which exists on their planet (and even beyond). Mark Twain, a very prominent author has mentioned in his book "Innocent Abroad":

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness."

Every place carries a certain charm hidden in its history, culture, traditions and customs. Travelling answers it purpose when the visitor got to feel this charm completely and he enjoys the place fully. Travelling is a form of learning and we now find almost all the details pertaining to a place in its local museums. Museums serve as a bridge between tourists and places they visit. Every place has its own representative products such as handicrafts. Tourists can have access to a wonderful collection of such things in a museum.

Tourists are not the only visitors a museum has. Museums vary in genres and we can be an astronaut off to space, experience the era of dinosaurs, re-live the significant events of history, visualize army fighting in the battleground, swim underwater with marvelous marine species, meet with a maser artist or get a taste of culture and traditions of a faraway place. Visiting a museum gives us a broad outlook. The superb and diverse collection of articles, with exquisitely splendid art is sure to inspire us.

Museums are a great source to learn about the past and importance of history cannot be over-emphasized. History teaches us various lessons and guide us about our present even help us making predictions about future. Theodore Roosevelt stressed on the importance of history as:

"I believe that the more you know about the past, the better you are prepared for future."

Our planet has always been home to many other species. There is a great variety in wildlife and some of them are now even extinct. An ordinary man has not got much idea about the rich world of animals, both above and under the water. Museums dedicated to animal kind can tell us about many splendid creatures and their interesting ways of life, hitherto unknown to us.

Art is the most intriguing of all the sciences in this world. It has evolved from the time of cavemen to its present form. Art is not just duplication. It captures emotions and feelings. There are many art museums in the world. People visit them to experience an artifact. Often an artist's aura can transcend from its creation. There is no denying the words of Leonardo Da Vinci:

"Art is the queen of all sciences communicating knowledge to all generations of the world."

It is argued that images of significant pieces of art are available everywhere but no photo or other representation can equal to viewing it in reality. We can share a connection to the person associated with the object when in presence of it. It soothes our mind and unwinds our soul. The art objects within a museum are messages left behind.

Concluding the whole discussion, museums and galleries allow us to cross the boundaries of time and place and to feel the connection to numerous others who have gone before us, who struggled to know their place and purpose and contributed towards shaping the world as we now know it.