Final answer:
If a student includes a sentence from Martin Luther King's speech without proper quotation marks or citation, it is considered plagiarism. Proper academic writing requires integrating quoted material with a signal phrase and citation or summarizing in one's own words with appropriate attribution.
Step-by-step explanation:
If a student's essay includes the sentence "King believed that people should have hope and faith, and should work together as brothers to improve the nation" but does not otherwise mention King or his speech, the result is plagiarism. This act of using someone else's work without proper citation not only fails to give credit where it's due but also misleads readers into thinking the ideas presented are the student's own. In the context of academic writing, it is crucial to attribute ideas and exact phrases to their originators. Using a direct quotation requires the use of quotation marks and a citation, while summarizing or paraphrasing requires rephrasing in the student's own words followed by appropriate citation. When the student omits both a direct reference to Martin Luther King, neither providing quotation marks around the words nor a citation, they are implying ownership of those ideas, which is a clear instance of plagiarism.
To avoid such issues, cited passages should be integrated into the text and attributed to their originators. Academic writing often necessitates incorporating other people's words into one's work to support claims and provide evidence. However, students must ensure that their sources do not drown out their own voice. They should be strategic about the quotations they include and provide their own explanations and analysis. For instance, an integrated quote would be smoothly incorporated into the flow of the paper with a proper signal phrase and a clarification of its relevance to the content being discussed.