1. In "Hurricane Season," what type of art does Hugh hang in the rental house, and how does Sedaris characterize a recent tenant's reaction to this art?

2. In "Unbuttoned," what irony does Sedaris recognize when Gretchen asks him to write Lou's obituary?

3. In "Father Time," how does Sedaris contrast his attentiveness to his father with that of his siblings?

4. In "To Serbia with Love," what criticism does Sedaris level against the American tourists Patsy deals with in Paris?

5. In "Active Shooter," how does Lisa explain to the instructor and to Sedaris her desire to take a gun-safety course?

6. In "Bruised," how does Sedaris feel his identity is flattened by his lack of French language skills?

7. In "Father Time," what does Sedaris tell Harrison and Austen about whom they should try to be more like, and why?

8. In "Themes and Variations," what does Sedaris discover about women, and how does he discover it?

9. In "Highfalutin," how does Sedaris say his adult experience in front of cameras reflects his role in the childhood game he played with Amy?

10. In "To Serbia with Love," what does Milos say was better about Yugoslavia under Tito than today's Serbia?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the meaning behind the anthology's title? Consider the content of the essay of the same name and how it relates to other essays in the collection. Consider how the title sums up a larger idea in this collection--earnestly or ironically. Also think about the reversed title in the essay's final collection. What is the point of reversing this title, and how does this choice add to your understanding of Sedaris's choice of Happy-Go-Lucky for the entire collection? Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about Sedaris's choice of title for this anthology of essays. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the collection.

Essay Topic 2

Early in studying this anthology, you considered how Sedaris's writing might affect his boyfriend, Hugh Hamrick, and how it might impact the reputation of his father and his siblings' feelings about their father. Now that you have read Sedaris's essay about his sister Tiffany's suicide, think back to the standards you personally believe a writer should follow in prioritizing their art versus the privacy and feelings of others. Do some online research into the controversy surrounding Sedaris's treatment of Tiffany's suicide, and develop an opinion about whether his discussions of her in Happy-Go-Lucky meet or violate your standards. Write an essay that analyzes the ethics of the essay "Lady Marmalade" and of other mentions of Tiffany throughout Happy-Go-Lucky. Draw your evidence from both Sedaris's writing and from online sources discussing others' reception of his remarks about his sister. Cite all sources in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

You have already analyzed how comic detail functions in "Pearls." Now, apply a similar analysis to another one of the essays in Happy-Go-Lucky. Consider how the essay functions without these details. Think about whether the comic details in your chosen essay have similar or dissimilar tones and how their tone(s) might impact readers. Write an essay that explicates how humor functions in this essay: is it intended to entertain, persuade, inform, or to fulfill some combination of these purposes? How does it accomplish Sedaris's purposes, exactly? Support your assertions with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from throughout the essay.

(see the answer keys)

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