Essential Question
How did new science and absolute monarchs reshape the European mind and the European map?
This week the student studies the Scientific Revolution (Copernicus, Kepler, Newton, and the true, balanced story of the Galileo affair), the deep harmony of faith and reason and the Catholic contribution to science, and the Age of Absolutism epitomized by Louis XIV and Versailles. In US history, the colonies mature through the Great Awakening and growing self-government. The week explores Baroque art and music and brings the multi-week research project to completion.
Liturgical note: Lent into Passiontide (late March) — the final, more intense stretch of Lent as the Church turns toward the Passion. The week's saint, St. Vincent de Paul, and the virtue of compassion direct the heart toward the corporal works of mercy as Holy Week approaches.
Threads at a Glance
The Scientific Revolution (Copernicus, the true story of Galileo, Kepler, Newton); faith and science; the Catholic contribution to science; the Age of Absolutism (Louis XIV and Versailles)
Reconstruction: Promise and Betrayal
Sir Isaac Newton (with the Galileo affair treated in the lesson)
Europe of the absolute monarchs (c. 1700); draw France, the patchwork Holy Roman Empire, and the rising powers
The Baroque — Caravaggio's light and drama, Bernini's sculpture and St. Peter's Square, Rubens; Catholic Baroque as the art of renewal
The Baroque era — Monteverdi and the birth of opera, Vivaldi, Handel, and J.S. Bach; the rise of tonality
St. Vincent de Paul (charity in the age of kings)
Compassion (the corporal works of mercy)
YOUCAT — the Our Father, prayed line by line
Style and concision — strong verbs, active voice, and cutting wordiness
Research project — revising, citing, and finalizing
Weekly Writing Assignment
Bring the research project (begun Week 22, drafted Week 23) to completion. THIS WEEK: (1) revise the draft for clear structure, strong verbs, active voice, and concision (applying this week's grammar lesson); (2) check that every borrowed fact has an in-text citation and that a complete Works Cited / bibliography lists all sources; (3) proofread for grammar and usage from the past weeks (homophones, agreement, run-ons); (4) produce the polished final paper.
The Week
Close the Week
Add each date to your running timeline notebook — one color for World History, another for US History.
Unit Reading · Renaissance, Exploration & Reformation
by E. L. Konigsburg
A witty, surprising novel that imagines the friendship between Leonardo da Vinci, his mischievous servant boy Salai, and the duchess Beatrice — and the mystery behind the Mona Lisa's smile.
by Robert Bolt
The acclaimed play about St. Thomas More, who would not betray his conscience even when the king demanded it — and paid with his life. A gripping portrait of integrity in the storm of the Reformation.
by Louis de Wohl
A sweeping novel of St. Francis Xavier, the friend of St. Ignatius who carried the Gospel across the seas to India and Japan during the Catholic Reformation. Adventure and holiness on a global stage.
by William Shakespeare
Shakespeare's most famous play: two teenagers from feuding families fall headlong in love, with tragic results. The classic introduction to Shakespeare for ninth graders, full of dazzling language about love, family, and rash choices. (Mature themes — young love and the lovers' suicides — make for rich discussion with a parent.)
by Miguel de Cervantes
An old gentleman reads so many tales of chivalry that he sets off to be a knight himself — tilting at windmills with his loyal squire Sancho Panza. The first modern novel: hilarious, tender, and wise. Best met in a good abridgment at this age. On the Cardinal Newman Society reading list.
by Elizabeth Borton de Treviño
The true-life story of Juan de Pareja, an enslaved man in the household of the great Spanish painter Velázquez, who secretly learns to paint and eventually wins his freedom and friendship. A quiet, beautiful novel about art, dignity, and faith. Listed on the Cardinal Newman Society reading list.