In the article, "The Ghosts of Ellis Island," Mary Gordon expounds on her visit to the movement focus on Ellis Iland. This was the place her grandparents' first destination was in America and was the spot that built up them to be American. The logical importance in Gordon's paper can be investigated by investigating her past, her different works, and what commentators need to say in regards to her written work style. In an examination of Gordon's article, it is clear that she begins and finishes with an individual ordeal story, gives recorded data, utilizes enlightening wording, and "envisions" her grandparents' response.

Gordon's exposition begins with an individual ordeal story. By doing this, Gordon drives the peruser into her ethnic foundation.