Summary and reading focus
Walt Whitman personifies rain as a cycle that rises, returns and nourishes the earth. Follow the water-cycle image and the parallel with poetry.
Close-reading prompts
- What choice, image or event drives the text? Support your response with a detail from the prescribed text.
- How does the title connect to the central theme?
- Write a 40–50 word inference answer, then expand one idea into a 120–150 word analytical response.
Language and revision
Identify a significant image, tone shift or narrative detail. Explain its effect rather than merely naming it.