Instructions: Read and annotate the following excerpts from “In Pursuit of Unhappiness” by Darrin McMahon, originally published in the New York Times, December 29, 2005.

(7) Sociologists like to point out that the percentage of those describing themselves as “happy” or “very happy” has remained virtually unchanged in Europe and the United States since such surveys were first conducted in the 1950’s. And yet, this January, like last year and next, the self-help industry will pour forth books promising to make us happier than we are today. The very demand for such books is a strong indication that they aren’t working.