Question

1. PART A: What does the phrase "eternal sleep" most closely mean as it is used in line 2?

Answer 1

Answer:

A. Death.

Explanation:

Gary Soto's poem "The Tempest 4.1.156-8" is a reference to William Shakespeare's play "The Tempest". But Soto used this play and gave it a slight twist, with the poem leaning towards the theme of death.

The use of the phrase "eternal sleep" in the second line of the poem is suggestive of death, the eternal sleep of a person. Soto, like Shakespeare, believes that we are not to be in this world forever. He states "We are such stuff... rounded with a sleep". Then he continues with the line "but before this eternal sleep", suggesting the scene where "our loved ones look away" to not see us die before their eyes.

Thus, the correct answer is option A.