In the literary passage entitled “Geraldo No Last Name” by Sandra Cisneros, the author uses diction and sentence structure to provide an authentic portrayal of the Marin’s thoughts which enables the reader to understand her distressed state of mind. The entire story is delivered by the narrator exactly how Marin told her the story about a man she met at a dance (Geraldo) who was suddenly killed in a “Hit and run” accident. Since Marin had just met Geraldo, she feels distress because she could not even provide his last name; consequently, his family in Mexico will never know what became of him in America or that he has been killed. To begin, by using simple, informal, colloquial diction, Cisneros is able to effectively portray the narrator’s thoughts and capture Marin’s emotions. For example, she uses informal phrases commonly used in conversation such as “That’s all” and “Don’t you know.” This demonstrates how Cisneros’s diction portrays the narrator’s thoughts in a way that enables the reader to understand her distress because the informality of the word choice reflects the way people actually think when they are under duress. When people are stressed, their thoughts are not in formal figures of speech; instead, they think in informal fragments which is reflected in the narrative. In addition,
Cisneros uses offensive, colloquial terms such as “wetback” and “brazier” to characterize
Geraldo, and she also repeats his name continuously throughout the passage. Cisneros expertly uses the combination of colloquial terms and repetition to portray Marin’s conflicting feelings.
The narrator repeats the offensive, colloquial terms that Americans use to refer to Mexicans like
Geraldo primarily to show how the doctors treated Geraldo inhumanely because he was an illegal immigrant as well as in an attempt to distance herself from him in order to try to rationalize that she has no reason to be upset by his death. However, in the following paragraphs, she repeats his name four times which humanizes Geraldo and reveals the narrator’s true emotions regarding his death. Secondly, Cisneros’s short, straightforward sentences and sentence fragments further enable the reader to understand the narrator’s emotions. For instance, when she describes the scene at the hospital, the author uses a combination of short sentences and fragments: “Only
Marin can’t explain why it mattered, the hours and hours, for somebody she didn’t even know.
The hospital emergency room. Nobody but an intern working all alone. And maybe if the surgeon would’ve come, maybe if he hadn’t lost so much blood, if the surgeon had only come, they would know who to notify and where.” This demonstrates how Cisneros’s use of sentences portrays the narrator’s thoughts in a way that enables the reader to understand her distress because the fragments portray her fragmented thoughts. The narrator has just experienced something traumatic; therefore, she is not thinking clearly. Furthermore, the longer last sentence reflects the narrator’s emotion. The long flow of thoughts reflects the flow of emotions that the narrator is feeling. The repetition of “if the surgeon had come” shows the distress that the narrator feels; she feels as though they did not do enough to save Geraldo so that his family could at least be informed of the accident. Clearly, Cisneros’s expert use of diction and sentence structures captures the authentic thoughts of the narrator which allows the reader to understand the her distress.

(1) In the literary passage entitled “Geraldo No Last Name” by Sandra Cisneros, the author uses diction and sentence structure to make the story personal and realistic. (2) First,
Cisneros uses simple , informal language to create a realistic, personal story. (3) For example, she uses words and phrases such as “ain’t,” “That’s right,” and “…don’t you know.” She also repeats the name “Geraldo” throughout the narrative. (4) This shows how the author’s use of informal diction creates a realistic story because the narrator’s speech reflects real-life language; the narrator speaks like real people actually when they are telling stories. As a result, the character is more believable, and the story is more realistic for the reader. In addition, the repetition of “Geraldo” makes the story more personal. This repetition humanizes Geraldo and contrasts the inhuman, derogatory terms
“wetback” and “brazer” that are also used to refer to Geraldo. When the narrator repeats his name rather than the derogatory terms, it makes the story personal because it reveals the narrator’s true emotions regarding and the true tragedy in his death. (5) Secondly, Cisneros uses short, straightforward sentences and sentence fragments to make the narrative even more realistic. (6) For instance, the opening sentences of the story are simple and direct: “She met him at a dance. Pretty too, and young. Said he worked in a restaurant, but she can’t remember which one. Geraldo. That’s all. Green pants and Saturday shirt.
Geraldo. That’s what he told her.” (7) This demonstrates how the author’s use of short sentences and sentence fragments creates a realistic, personal story because they reflect the way people really talk when they tell a story and it creates a conversational tone. She makes the story personal by using fragments to call attention to the details about Geraldo. The use of fragments makes these details stand out and again humanizes Geraldo because the reader can envision what he looks like. Consequently, the reader will feel the sadness that Marin and the narrator feel when he dies because the author has story about Geraldo personal. (8) Clearly,
Cisneros’s use of colloquial diction and short, direct sentences makes the story more realistic and personal for the reader.
Effect of author’s style
Elements of style (diction and sentences)
Transitional words and phrases
Synonyms for “shows”: demonstrates, exemplifies, illuminates, illustrates, portrays, conveys, reveals

Sandra Cisneros’s use of sentence structure and diction in her story, “Geraldo No Last
Name,” helps the reader get a feel for the narrator’s thoughts as well as the mystery and confusion surrounding the story’s events. Cisneros’s use of slang and imprecise, colloquial words gives the narrator the feel of a true character. “He wasn’t her boyfriend or anything like that. Just another brazier who didn’t speak English (lines 21 – 23). Here, use of imprecise analogy (“anything like that”) and slang terms (“brazier”) aid in the construction of character; the narrator seems real due to these informalities, and the reader is better able to relate to her as a character. In addition to word choice, Cisneros’s sentence structure also develops character while adding to the mood. For instance, “No address. No name, Nothing in his pockets. Ain’t it a shame” (lines 13 – 14): the author makes use of short sentence fragments. The brevity and incompleteness with which thoughts are expressed mimics that of real cognition, thus making the narrator’s character more believable. The pacing brought about by the speedy, continuous flow of the fragments allows the reader to feel the mood of confusion or mystery, much like the narrator experiences. There is no break-time, just an onslaught of thoughts, leading the reader to empathize with the narrator’s perplexing situation. It is therefore shown that Cisneros’s use of diction and sentence structure in
“Geraldo No Last Name” is crucial to both the development of the narrator’s character and the establishment of emotional connection between the reader and the story.