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Question

Question
Compare the student text with the source.

Source: Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel, pages 39–40. Published by W. W. Norton & Company, 1997:

Anyone who has experienced firsthand the overwhelming power of the life-sized painted bulls and horses in the Lascaux Cave of southwestern France will understand at once that their creators must have been as modern in their minds as they were in their skeletons.

Student text:

If you've seen the ancient paintings in France's Lascaux Cave, then you know that their creators must have been as modern in their minds as they were in their skeletons.

Is the student's text plagiarized? Why or why not?

Answer 1

The student's text shows signs of plagiarism because it closely resembles the language and structure of the source text without appropriate attribution or significant transformation. While the student has altered a few words (e.g., "If you've seen" instead of "Anyone who has experienced firsthand"), the overall meaning and phrasing remain very similar to that of the original passage.

Plagiarism occurs when someone presents the ideas or expressions of another as their own without proper citation. In this case, the student did not provide a citation for Jared Diamond's work, and the similarities in phrasing suggest that they have relied heavily on the source without giving credit. To avoid plagiarism, the student could have either paraphrased the idea more thoroughly in their own words or included a citation to acknowledge the original author.