Geraldo No Last Name

1. Why does Geraldo have no last name? From the information Cisneros provides, do you
believe that his death was inevitable?

2. At the end of this little sketch, Cisneros says “they” never saw certain aspects of Geraldo’s life. Who are “they”?

3. How can this short story be used to make an argument about the place in American society people like Geraldo occupy? Where does he fit in? And, how what might Geraldo represent about nameless, faceless, undocumented workers and the interactions that have with officials?

4. Geraldo has no identification papers and may be an illegal immigrant. In what other ways can people become lost in our society? How might that happen, and to whom?