Ong’s article also mentions T.S Elliot and takes an idea from him that audiences have been fictionalized as long as there has been literature and writing. I found this to be a very interesting comment, and really helped me wrap my head around how the audience is fictionalized. The article, “It’s Ms. America to You” is very directed toward women. I think that it is most directed to women who are older, who maybe lived through the feminist movement. The article uses many examples and sets up scenes that are from that area in time. There are also women quoted who were involved in that 1968 Beauty Pageant. The article appears in a Newsweek magazine, which is predominantly read by an older population of people who are typically well educated. The article briefly discusses the 2007 pageant but dismisses it quickly and it has no value to the article. I think this sets up the audience as older, educated females who are obviously Newsweek readers.
In order for the author to construct a different audience I think a lot of things about the article would need to be changed. The article is very female oriented, and sadly without completely altering the article I don’t know how the audience could be constructed to be entirely male. I do however think that it could be altered to an audience that includes more women. Women of different races, and ages. I think your audience needs to feel connected to the aim of the article that is being projected. Ong says that the writer must construct the audience this could be clearly or vaguely according to Ong, but an audience is constructed so that the writer has someone to write to. Ong also talks about how the audience must also fictionalize themselves. So, while the writer constructs the audience the audience also fictionalizes itself too. This is not the same as what they may be in reality, but merely what they are while reading the text. I think that the audience can adapt of course to still feel persuaded by a text, but it must be constructed as well.
Therefore, completely ignoring the present and focusing solely on the past would not work in constructing a younger audience. However the writer does mention a few issues such as gay rights and abortion rights, but they could be expanded on because they are currently such hot topics and draw people in. The world currently is full of dialogue about hot topic issues from the campaign. This draws in both young and old audiences, and now more than ever women. Mentioning Sarah Palin, Hillary Clinton, or even Michelle Obama has a profound uniting affect for women, and I believe will make an audience of young women accept this plea of sisterhood.
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I dont think that the author would want to construct an audience out of men alone. I think that you do a good job of stating that this article draws in a wide range of people including young, old, homosexual, and pro-choice individuals. I think that you hypothetical idea that the author would want to construct an audience of only men is incorrect and that this article has the word sisterhood in it for a reason. It is meant for a predominately female audience, with the exception of men who might be interested in female rights. I dont know if you meant that the author might want to present this to men alone, but this is how I saw you reconstructing the audience. I really liked your analysis.
I struggled with Ong's article, and was hesitant to use it for this assignment. After reading your analysis I believe that I can better understand and apply the concepts discussed. I think that you did an excelent job discibing the audience, and their function within the original text.
When I read this article I viewed it as addressing women, but more addressing the women of today to give them a sense of how the rights of todays women evolved from events of the past. I feel like when they briefly spoke of the 2007 pageants the author was showing that this is where we are and this is where we came from. I liked you analysis and I think you gave a really clear description of the audience that the author was trying to reach.
I read this article and considered doing audience reconstruction towards a younger generation as well. I thought your examples, especially incorporating the present into the piece for younger girls, were very good!
When I read this article I thought that the intended audience was to everyone who read Newsweek, but I thought the implied audience was to all women. I guess I just didn't get from the article that Kantrowitz was mainly talking to older women. I also thought that it could be to all women because I was very inspired by the article, and I am part of the younger generation. I also saw this article as more of reflecting on the past and how far we come, and I can see how older women would be proud of all that they have worked for, and ultimately touched by this article; however, I also thought that reflecting on women's accomplishments over the years would be very inspiring to women of all ages. Maybe when Kantrowitz said, "Some issues have remained disturbingly contentious," she meant that we still have a long way to go in our fight for women's rights. I think its very interesting to see what different people can take away from an article, and I thought that you made some very good points that helped me to look again at my own analysis of the article.
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