Informative Speech: Full Sentence Outline

REVISION
Ella Fitzgerald
Introduction:
Hook: I studied voice for 10 years. When I was fifteen, one of my teachers suggested I
start learning Jazz and singing Scat. Since I had no idea what she was talking
about, she introduced me to early female Jazz singers, and that is when I
discovered my idol Ella Fitzgerald.
Thesis: Im going to tell you about Ella Fitzgeralds life and her place in American
history.
Preview:
1. Ellas early years.
2. Rise to fame.
3. End of life and legacy.

Transition: Lets begin with Ellas early years in Virginia and New York.

Body:
I.

Ella Fitzgerald was born in Newport News, Va. on April 25, 1917 and shortly thereafter,
her family moved to Yonkers New York which was the beginning of a rough, colorful
childhood.
A.

Ella had a meager existence with her mother as a child which only got worse when
her mother died from complications after a car accident when Ella was fifteen.
i. It was the middle of the Depression. Without her mother, Ella had to find a
way to make money, and that is how she wound up running numbers for
bookies.
ii. Ellas aunt took her in for a while, but according to Nina Bernsteins NY
Times article Ward of the State; The Gap in Ella Fitzgeralds life, published
June 23, 1996, Ellas illegal activities caught up with her.
iii. Ella spent time in and out of reform schools as a ward of the state, where she
was regularly beaten by the staff.

B.

Between the ages of 17 and 18, Ella was homeless, relying on dancing on street
corners for money or the kindness of strangers for a place to sleep until one fateful
contest changed the course of her life.
i.

Despite being a very shy person, Ella entered a talent contest at the new
Apollo Theater.
ii. After seeing the dancers performing before her, Ella feared she would not be
able to compete with their talent and decided to sing instead.
iii. Ella won the talent contest and a twenty five dollar cash prize.
Transition: Following the win at the Apollo, Ellas fame slowly started to grow in Harlem as
she was noticed by bandleaders and musicians who wanted to work with her.
II.

Since Ella was not yet 18, she was still considered a ward of the state; however the state
released her to work in the Chick Webb Orchestra, where Chick Webb and his wife
unofficially adopted her.
A.

Ellas first official success with Chicks band was at the Savoy Ballroom in 1935
at the age of seventeen.
i.
ii.
iii.

B.

In 1939, at the height of the Swing Era, Chick Webb died.

Ella led the band until 1942 when it disbanded.
After stints with other bands, including the Ink Spots, Ella stepped out on her
own.

Ella worked with Decca records in 1943 and started to form her imprint on the
musical world with her special style of jazz, swing and bebop and her scat singing.
i. She toured with Dizzy Gillespie.
ii. From Janice Sutherlands 1998 short film, Ella Fitzgerald: The Singer, Not
the Song, it was noted that Ellas scat singing was encouraged by the
trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, the front man of bebop. Bebop was
a radical new approach to rhythm and
harmony that set the jazz world alight in the1940s.

Subsequently, Ellas fame started to reach a crescendo with parts in movies and larger tours and
venues.

III.

For the next three decades, Ella recorded albums with numerous musicians and singers
including Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra. A few of her hit songs you might sound
familiar; Summertime, A Tisket-A Tasket, Love Is Here To Stay.
A.

Memorex made a commercial of Ella shattering a wine glass with her voice.

B.

In the eighties, Ellas health started to decline, from complications from diabetes.
She passed away June 16, !996.

Transition to close. Moving forward, Ellas legacy is an integral part of Americas culture. As
Mark Berman wrote for the The Last Page article in the 1996 Fall Edition of Dissent
Magazine, Ella was a singer's singer.
Conclusion:
Review thesis/main points: And those are a few of the countless highlights in Ellas career.
Bookend: Her grace and strength through her career and ups and downs are two of the reasons
why I admire her, as well as her unforgettable talent.
Memorable Closer: Something Ella said has always inspired me to continue trying new things:
Just dont give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is
love and inspiration, I dont think you can go wrong.

Lisa Matheson

Informative Speech Annotated Bibliography

Scholarly Journal/Book
APA Citation: Berman, P. (1996) The last page. Dissent (00123846), 43144
Summary of Source Information: As Mark Berman wrote for the The Last Page article in the
1996 Fall Edition of Dissent Magazine, Ella was a singer's singer.
Source Evaluation: The source is peer reviewed in the SLCC Library Database. The Last Page
is a part of the Smithsonian Magazine, which is funded mostly by the government. The source is
not biased; he was able to critique the good and the bad of the subject matter. Given the fact that
Ella Fitzgerald passed away 20 years ago, and the article was written shortly after her death, it
should be as current as necessary. I was able to pull the same information up on different
websites.
Newspaper/Magazine
APA Citation: Bernstein, N. (1996, June 23). Ward of the State; The Gap in Ella Fitzgerald's
Life. New York Times. Retrieved from
http://ic.galegroup.com.libprox1.slcc.edu/ic/ovic/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow?
disableHighlighting=false&displayGroupName=News&currPage=&scanId=&query=&prodId=
OVIC&search_within_results=&p=OVIC&mode=view&catId=&limiter=&displayquery=&displayGroups=&contentModules=&action=e&sortBy=&documentId=GALE

%7CA150507263&windowstate=normal&activityType=&failOverType=&commentary=&sourc
e=Bookmark&u=slcc&jsid=9df13ea3eb334bdc7837e832a513ec00

Summary of Source Information: Ellas aunt took her in for a while, but according to Nina
Bernsteins NY Times article Ward of the State; The Gap in Ella Fitzgeralds life, published
June 23, 1996, Ellas illegal activities caught up with her.

Source Evaluation: The author has won National Book Award for Nonfiction, National Book
Critics Circle Award for General Nonfiction and is not biased in her writing on foster children. I
was able to pull the information up a couple other websites.It is relevant to my subject since it
helps shed light on Ellas early years.

Online Video
APA Citation: Ella Fitzgerald: The singer, not the song [Video file]. (1998). Retrieved October
26, 2016, from

http://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=102595&xtid=12116

Summary of Source Information: From Janice Sutherlands 1998 short film, Ella Fitzgerald:
The Singer, Not the Song, it was noted that Ellas scat singing was encouraged by the
trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, the front man of bebop. Bebop was
a radical new approach to rhythm and harmony that set the jazz world alight in the1940s.

Source Evaluation: I was able to pull the same information on other websites, as well as another
music documentary. The documentary was found in the SLCC Library database Films On
Demand. It is relevant to my topic since Ella was a jazz singer.