Thesis & Topic Sentences

Your thesis and topic sentences PREDICT for your reader what the essay will be about, so you need to articulate these carefully.

Thesis: Growing up in an Italian-American family has definitely influenced me.

Topic Sent. 1: My family always liked to eat Italian food.

Topic Sent. 2: I come from a close-knit family.

Topic Sent. 3:    People tend to stereotype Italians based on films.

Compare the difference in the following outline.

Thesis:  Since I am a third-generation American-born man, people are always surprised at my strong ethnic identification as an Italian-American.

Topic Sentence 1: One of the most significant influences of my ethnic heritage is the strong family loyalties and our close-knit extended family.

Topic Sentence 2: My family has always adhered to its ethnic traditions, with everything from food to holiday celebrations.

Topic Sentence 3: Even though I do not have difficulties with language or culture, I still feel the repercussions of the stereotypical Italian-American prejudices that are particularly evident in Hollywood mafia films.