Connor Merriman

Mr. Newman
English 101: Rhetoric
17 September 2014

Statement of Scope for the Annotated Bibliography

The government, while many people get the feeling of protection from hearing those two
words together, others get the feeling of corruption, lies and secrets. While no one besides the
actual government officials involved really know what happens, there are also many theories of
conspiracy associated with specific events that take place. Some can be acts of terrorism such
as 9/11 or top secret military missions, such as the one to kill Osama Bin Laden. While many
people believe that todays government is primarily focused on helping its people , there are
also times when the government has some things, secrets, meant to be hidden from the world
for different kinds of reasons.
This essay will explore about how, unfortunately, the government hides specific events
from all non-government officials, this will show how people have a tendency to make up
conspiracy theories on what they believed happened. While government may hide these secrets
in an effort to keep its people safe, sometimes it ends up doing just the opposite. Along with the
freedom of speech amendment, the government does not have control in what any theories
anyone comes up with. Even though these conspiracy theories nothing more than just made up
theories, they can also be hurtful to a government officials career. Despite how farfetched some
of the conspiracy theories may seem, after a while, the theories get passed around and slowly
become more than just theories. If the government did not keep such secrets from their people,
there would not be as many theories made up as there are today.
This selected bibliography includes sources that deal with the effect caused by the
government keeping secrets from its citizens, how it affects everyone, and the repercussions

that follow and how conspiracy theories can hurt the government in the future. The Cloward
article talks about what happened in Dallas when former president John F. Kennedy was
assassinated and how all of the conspiracy theories associated with that event have formed.
Georges article Conspiracy in Boston touches base on the Boston marathon bombings that
happened not to long ago. The author also talks about what went through the mind of the
bomber that day and why the government kept some of the details secret in the beginning.
Harbs article talks about how the NYPD uses secret surveillance methods to spy on the
muslims living in New York and because the government choose to not tell the muslims, many
of them became very alert with the government and many conspiracy theories have been
developed from that. Puldas article talks about how the government reacts when their secrets
get leaked. The article, "An Unforgettable Moment in History, 50 Years Later: John F. Kennedy
(1917-63)., gives multiple reviews and different opinions of the JFK assassination.

Annotated Bibliography

Cloward, Tim. Conspiracy-A-Go-Go: Dallas at the Fiftieth Anniversary of the

Assassination. Southwest Review 1 Oct. 2013: 407. elibrary. Web. 11 Sept. 2014. This article
Conspiracy-A-Go-Go: Dallas at the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Assassination, talks about what
happened in Dallas, Texas when John F. Kennedy was shot and killed. Not only does this article
list the realism of the Conspiricy theories associated with the assassination. Also, it talks about
how much of america is surronded by consipricy theories.
George, Michael. Conspiracy in Boston. Skeptic: n. pag. elibrary. Web. 16 Sept. 2014.
This article talks in detail about how the bombings at the Boston marathon happened and why.
It also goes a bit into the mind of one of the bombers, trying to show why he did it and how he
acted after it had happened. Although what happened at the martahon was clearly obvious,
there are still many conspiracy theories associated with what happended that day.
Harb, Ali. National Security Journalist Discusses NYPD Surveillance of Muslims. Arab
American News 26 Oct. 2013: 20. elibrary. Web. 17 Sept. 2014. This article talks about how the
NYPD uses secret survalliance methods to watch muslims in the United States beause they
arent trusted after 9/11. The NYPD recieves the most money out of all of the 50 states to fund
anti-terroism. However, the muslim communtities in New York are pratically completely taken
over now.
Pulda, Molly. Unknown Knows: State Secrets and Family Secrets. Biography: 472.
elibrary. Web. 15 Sept. 2014. This article talks about how the goverment has secrets meant to
be hidden on purpose form all outside people. It also talks about how back in 2010, the
website, WikiLeaks released a number of goverment files that were meant to be
hidden. The article briefly also talks about the leaks and transparency in all of the
secrets that are leaked out.
An Unforgettable Moment in History, 50 Years Later: John F. Kennedy (1917-63). Library
Journal 138: 86. elibrary. Web. 16 Sept. 2014. This journal includes multiple reviews and
different opinions of the J.F.K assassination. Some believe that the assassination was

associated with conpiracies, while others believe it is simply the facts on what happened that
day. While there are many different opinions in this journal, it gives a good amount of
information on both the conspiracies and the facts.