How does Cisneros's diction in "Geraldo No Last Name" affect the story's tone?

The diction that Cisneros uses in "Geraldo No Last Name" is casual in order to make the story feel close to home.  For example, Cisneros uses colloquialisms to relate the reader to the experience:  "hit and run," "cumbias and salsas and rancheras," "ain't it a shame." Yet, although the reader may relate to the experience, the tone created by the words suggests that events like these are all too common in communities like Marin's and Geraldo's.  The air of sarcasm in the line, "Ain't it a shame" points to the notion that no one really does think it is a shame that Geraldo is dead.  Using another form of diction would move the story out of the realm of the community, and Cisneros is asking the reader to consider his/her position on events like the one happening in the story.

What is the tone of the final paragraph in "Geraldo No Last Name," and how does it reflect the story's main themes?

The final paragraph, or really the last two paragraphs, reveal a change in the tone--so this is a great question to ask. It's where things become less breezy and more contemplative.

Throughout the rest of the story, the narration is informal and conversational; we understand that it conveys the thoughts of not just the baffled Marin but also the dismissive police who question her, filtered through the voice of a seemingly indifferent narrator.

Short, conversational statements characterize most of the story. "That's right." "She likes to dance." "Nothing in his pockets."

But then, those last few paragraphs of the story reveal a change: the tone becomes serious and sensitive as the narrator describes how Geraldo's family will never hear from him again and never find out why.

Longer, more dramatic sentences characterize this last paragraph, like this one: "The ones he left behind are far away, will wonder, shrug, remember."

To sum up, the tone in this very final paragraph is contemplative and mournful because it addresses the themes of the story--the sad fate of an undocumented worker in the US, the nature of a life of anonymity as an immigrant, the bleak indifference and open hostility exhibited in the US toward illegal immigrants-- while the rest of the story's tone is practically peppy in comparison.

How does the author's style impact the story in "Geraldo No Last Name"?

In the short story "Geraldo No Last Name" by Sandra Cisneros, the main character is a woman named Marin, who enjoys going to dances. At one of them she meets a man dressed in a "shiny shirt and green pants" named Geraldo. She dances with him but never gets to know him well enough to even learn his last name. She only finds out that he "worked in a restaurant." Upon leaving the dance, Geraldo is involved in a hit-and-run accident. He is taken to the emergency room, where he dies. Marin is questioned by hospital personnel and by police but, having just met Geraldo, is unable to tell them much.

The story is told from Marin's point of view. The style has great impact because it reflects her traumatized state of mind. Although she didn't really know him, Geraldo's death has affected her profoundly. She "can't explain why it mattered" that she was the last one to interact with Geraldo while he was alive, but it does matter. She attempts to imagine what his life must have been like. He was possibly an illegal immigrant. He probably worked hard, rented cheap, small rooms, and sent money home to help his family. The loved ones he left behind will always wonder why he went away and never came back.

The story is a brief but touching tragedy about a life that in some ways seemed insignificant but was really not. He mattered to some people, and for a brief time his life touched Marin's life, and he mattered to her. The style manifests the confused thoughts someone might have after a terrible tragic event such as a random car accident. It is an attempt to show how Marin is trying to make sense out of a person and an event that impacted her life briefly but profoundly.