Educators

Learning Modules for Classrooms, Book Clubs & Reading Groups

Module 1 - Structure of the Novel

Module 2 - Themes, Motifs, and Symbols

Module 3 - Quizz of Twenty Questions - A pathway to discuss the novel’s contents

These Modules are appropriate for secondary and post-secondary instruction and are ideal for Book Clubs and reading groups as tools to initiate discussion.

Module 1 - Structure of the Novel

Breath of the Adamastor is divided into nine sections of four chapters each.

Breath of the Adamastor is a satisfying read because of its structure and resolution

Act One - The first three sections are devoted to developing the background stories of the main characters: Ardis, the marine biologist and protagonist; Xisco, the stable hand; and Carlos, the seminarian. Each section ends in a turning point—the moment when a character’s life changes forever. The turning points plant questions in the reader’s mind.

How will the change impact the character?

How will the character respond?

Can you name the three turning points?

Hint: Look at the fourth chapter in each of the three first sections.

Answers

First Plot Points:                               Ardis – C4                            Xisco – C8                            Carlos – C12

Extra, extra challenging

Act Two - Within the next five sections, each character encounters a mid-point crisis and a climax that pertain to his or her own journey.

Can you name the mid-point crises and climaxes that correspond to each character and his or her respective turning points?

Hint: You are looking for a mid-point crisis and a climax for each of the three main characters.

Answers

Mid-Points:                                        Ardis – C16                        Xisco – C20                          Carlos – C18, C22

Climaxes:                                           Ardis – C32, 33                   Xisco – C23                          Carlos – C27

This one is easier once you name the other plot elements, and it’s most satisfying

Act Three – The last section is the denouement or conclusion of the story.

Can you identify the resolution for each main character?

Do you feel satisfied by these outcomes?

Does the author leave any loose ends?

Do you feel bothered by any ambiguities?

The author reports, “I’m working on a sequel that addresses important considerations left unfinished.”

Conclusions:                       Ardis – C36                          Xisco – C35                          Carlos – C34

Module 2 - Themes, Motifs, and Symbols

A compelling learning opportunity

Who doesn’t want to know the ‘big picture’ ideas that a book, like a film, can be known for? Crack open a discussion of the literary themes, motifs, and symbols that operate within Breath of the Adamastor and you will have your students and book club members leaning in to learn more.

This, after all, is why literature is so powerful.

Literary themes explore the human condition on a universal level.

The six common themes:

1.       Good versus evil

2.       Redemption

3.       Unrequited love

4.       Courage and perseverance

5.       Coming of age

6.       Revenge

All six are present in Breath of the Adamastor.

What are themes, motifs, and symbols?

A theme is a subject or topic of a book or a character's focus. A reader discovers themes as they emerge through characterization, setting, dialogue, plot, or a mixture of these.

A motif is a repeating idea in a story, usually a variation on a theme.

A symbol is usually an object that represents a theme or motif in a story. It could be an emblem, token, or sign.

For a comprehensive list of the literary themes, motifs, and symbols in Breath of the Adamastor, please see the webpage in the Exedra Section of this website at https://www.cavalarico.com/themes-1

Module 3 - Book Quiz

Twenty Questions

This quiz explores CONTENT that brings Breath of the Adamastor to life. Discussion leaders and teachers may use it as a pathway to further discussion.

Question 1: Who are Ardis Lowney’s mentors, and why are they significant?

Answer: Ardis looks up to Elsie McGill, a Canadian aeronautical engineer, and Rachel Carson, an American marine biologist. Both are pioneering women in science whose work models intellectual courage, environmental responsibility, and pathways to ambitious careers.

Q2: Which movie star serves as Ardis’s personal hero, and what does he represent to her?

Answer: Humphrey Bogart represents moral ambiguity, quiet resolve, and the romantic ideal of standing firm under pressure.

Q3: What is magic realism, and how does it operate in Breath of the Adamastor?

Answer: Magic realism blends realistic settings with moments that introduce the extraordinary without fully breaking the logic of the real world. In the novel, several incidents—such as dreamlike encounters and mythic presences—use magic realism to deepen emotional truth and explore philosophical and ecological ideas rather than to create fantasy.

Q4: What is the significance of Ardis’s conversation with a sea turtle?

Answer: Delivered in the artistic style of magic realism, Ardis’s conversation with a sea turtle blurs the line between reality and myth and deepens the novel’s philosophical and ecological themes.

Q5: How should readers interpret the dream sequence involving the sea turtle? Was it a dream, or did the turtle truly communicate with Ardis?

Answer: The novel leaves this moment deliberately ambiguous. Readers may interpret the sea turtle as a dream shaped by Ardis’s subconscious imagination, a moment of magic realism, or actual communication via telepathy.

Q6: What drives Ardis’s scientific passion?

Answer: She is determined to locate the nesting grounds of the endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle and then help protect the species.

Q7: Where does Ardis receive intelligence training, and which famous figure appears there?

Answer: Ardis trains at Camp X, where Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond series, appears in a cameo, linking the novel to the real-world origins of modern espionage.

Q8: How does Breath of the Adamastor depict women?

Answer: The novel portrays the social expectations placed on women of the era to become housewives and mothers. In Ardis Lowney, the reader sees a young woman who is determined to define herself through scientific inquiry, independence, and moral agency.

 Q9: What is the Adamastor?

Answer: The Adamastor is a mythic storm‑giant drawn from Portuguese literature and maritime legend.

 Q10: Who were the Marrano Jews?

Answer: The Marrano Jews maintained their faith in secrecy because during the Inquisition they were forced to convert to Christianity.

 Q11: What do the Wind Rose, Henry the Explorer, Prester John, and the Adamastor symbolize?

Answer: They reflect Portugal’s maritime history, exploration, legend, and mythmaking, respectively.

 Q12: How does the Cathar Crusade relate to the novel’s portrayal of the Inquisition?

Answer: The Cathar Crusade was a historical model for religious persecution, illustrating how institutions justified violence in the name of faith.

 Q13: Why are the Book of Job, the Book of Ecclesiastes, and the Myth of Sisyphus referenced?

Answer: These works frame the novel’s exploration of suffering, absurdity, and humanity’s search for meaning in an indifferent world.

 Q14: As Carlos observes the statue of La Pietà, what do his emotions tell us?

Answer: Carlos observes the grief communicated by Mary holding her son Jesus after he was taken down from the cross. He experiences acute feelings of loss and abandonment in his realization that as an orphan he never experienced having the love of a mother.

Q15: What are Prime Minister Salazar’s two main priorities during the war?

Answer: Salazar focuses on wolfram mining and the promotion of the Fatima miracles as tools of political control and international leverage.

 Q16: What is wolfram and why is it important?

Answer: Wolfram is a metal used to strengthen steel. The Nazi war machine in Germany needed it to build tanks, ship, and guns. Portugal held significant reserves of the metal and sold it to the highest bidder.

 Q17: According to mining engineer Sam Schultze, what is the truth about Fatima?

Answer: Sam claims the Fatima miracles are a hoax used by Salazar and Cardinal Cerejeira to manipulate and intimidate the Portuguese population.

 Q18: What is the significance of the Research Vessel Cao de Água: The Water Dog?

Answer: 1) It is Ardis’s research ship which symbolizes the intersection of science and exploration.
2) The Portuguese water dog is a breed of dogs that is popular with Portuguese fishermen.
3) Naming ships after dogs was a British Navy tradition. The name pays tribute to the HMS Beagle, the ship on which Charles Darwin sailed to the Galapagos Islands and wrote much of the Origin of Species.

 Q19: Why are feeding frenzies involving the cicadas, bluefin tuna, and baby sea turtles important?

Answer: They reflect the vulnerability of weaker species to predators, mirroring human vulnerability during wartime.

 Q20: Who is Americo Charon, and what does The Serpa Pinto represent?

Answer: In Greek myth, Americo Charon evokes the mythic ferryman of souls, while the voyage on The Serpa Pinto symbolizes the transition or passage after death to the afterlife.