Short Story by Sandra Cisneros
1. There’s a lot we don’t know when we finish reading Cisneros’s sketch. Write down questions that you think are left unanswered.
What
was his last name?What exactly happened to him?
Who was he?
Shaping Interpretations
2. At the end of this little sketch, Cisneros says “they” never saw certain aspects of Geraldo’s life. Who are “they”?
“They” could refer to certain characters, like Marin, the doctors at the hospital that attended him, or the police that couldn’t find anything about him.
3. After Geraldo dies, Marin says she can’t understand why their meeting mattered, why she spent so many hours in the hospital waiting room. Why do you think she keeps thinking about the meeting and wondering what it meant?
We think that she wanted to get to meet him but wasn’t able to because of his death.
4. Exactly what do you know about the character of Geraldo? What inferences, or guesses, can you make about the kind of person he was?
We could infer that he’s Latino. He ran away or immigrated to the United States from his home country (Mexico, maybe). He seemed very charming and a great dancer, fun to be around and the life of the party.
5. Do you think this story is about love?
If we analyze it from a superficial perspective it could be about love, but we don’t think what Marin felt for him was actual love but intrigue, curiosity; to know who was him.
Connecting with the Text
6. Look back at your Quickwrite notes. Are there any similarities between the “brief encounter” you described and the one in the story?
Both are similar because in both there’s regret of not being able to get closer to that person. In Marin’s case she regretted losing someone that she didn’t even get to know. For us, we would’ve loved to know our grandparents that died when we were little kids and wished to have spent more time with them.
7. Review the letter from a young woman who has immigrated to California from Mexico (Letter which is in the Elements of Literature book under the title "Connections on page 116). How does her letter home affect your responses to Geraldo’s story?
Even though Geraldo seemed to be living alone and poorly, he had people at home who waited and cared for him. Geraldo was not alone.
Extending the Text
8. 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?
There are so many ways to get lost in society, such as being a victim of the armed groups or forced displacement; or human trafficking, slavery.
By Alejandra Castro Cure
& David Artuz, Step 11 Blue
