Beaver's Typewriter episode...

[Ireneparalegal]

Why was it considered cheating if Beaver's teacher did NOT ask the assignment to be typed?

I can see if the teacher asked that the assignment be typed (which would be ridiculous since many kids at that time had no access to one at home) then the talk abt cheating would make sense to me, but it doesn't. I thought maybe it had to do with grammar and puncuation, etc. but Eddie typed it up the way Beaver wrote the composition word for word.

[desilu #1]

I agree with you. I don't see how it was cheating either. As long as he did the work on paper himself and had it typed by someone who typed better (which he did) then I don't see the harm. It was silly!

[Ireneparalegal]

^^^Exactly. Eddie did it simply for the $1. Beaver couldn't type but Eddie did, so what was the harm? It wasn't like Beaver was never going to learn to type.

This episode reminded me of when we had an old computer (I am from the 70's mind you ) and I didn't know how to type, so there I was with two fingers typing away and taking FOR-E-VER to type up a school report. I was sooo tired by the end. I could understand how Beaver felt abt wanting to have his paper typed and be neat and yet, not being able to.

[tdr]

This has been discussed before, and the consensus is what y'all have said, that it wasn't cheating because the composition was Beaver's own work. It was wrong, however, for Beaver to say the typewriter was "busted" to explain why he didn't type his latest assignment. Even if you want to go by his "it doesn't work" statement as technically true, it's deliberately misleading. He could also say "it's not working" and that would be true if no one was using it .

Meanwhile, my 'analysis' of the ep is that it's a typical overblown story that makes a mountain out of a molehill; these were common as Beaver got older and the writers had him doing things much more in line for a younger kid.

And for the record, I took typing as a junior in high school, where half the typewriters were manual, and half IBM Wheelwriters. I got close to 40 wpm, where I stayed for a long time. But after a few years with a computer keyboard, I checked my speed again and I was better than 50. Goes to show-- if we're not careful we may learn something, or improve in something.

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by tdr

This has been discussed before, and the consensus is what y'all have said, that it wasn't cheating because the composition was Beaver's own work. It was wrong, however, for Beaver to say the typewriter was "busted" to explain why he didn't type his latest assignment. Even if you want to go by his "it doesn't work" statement as technically true, it's deliberately misleading. He could also say "it's not working" and that would be true if no one was using it .

Meanwhile, my 'analysis' of the ep is that it's a typical overblown story that makes a mountain out of a molehill; these were common as Beaver got older and the writers had him doing things much more in line for a younger kid.

And for the record, I took typing as a junior in high school, where half the typewriters were manual, and half IBM Wheelwriters. I got close to 40 wpm, where I stayed for a long time. But after a few years with a computer keyboard, I checked my speed again and I was better than 50. Goes to show-- if we're not careful we may learn something, or improve in something.

I didn't take typing until I was a freshman in high school. I am so glad I did. As I think back to doing assignments with a typewriter, the old ones, where you had to manually push that thing to get to the next line, made for some long and tiring nights at my desk.

I found it so unbelievable as well when the teacher seemed to be practically "interrogating" Beaver regarding the typewriter. The teacher asked abt it being broken and assuming that it was in the repair shop and so forth. Excuse me, but that scene was just corny. The teacher talked to Beaver as if he were his son, not his student. And for the teacher to assume that Beaver would do all of his assignments by typing is ludicrous. Beaver should have just told the teacher the truth. That he didn't know how to type and that he was practicing with that homework assignment but found that it took too long. But that he would practice and hope to be better soon.

[tdr]

It's also 'corny' how Beaver thought it such a felony, per se, that he paid Eddie to type his work, then said the typewriter "doesn't work" because Eddie turned a switch. He tells Ward, "Let me say first, Dad, that you've got a rat for a son...and bad stuff kept happening and happening..." Good night! No need for a guilt complex because it's not that easy to learn to type well.

And how about Gilbert agreeing that it was "cheating" because Beaver let Eddie type his work? The same Gilbert that talked Beaver into watching a movie lampoon of The Three Musketeers and writing a book report based on it calls Eddie typing Beaver's composition "cheating?" As if that kid cared about cheating in the first place .

You almost feel sorry for Beaver and the stocks or the dungeon that await him after he confesses what happened to Ward, who replies, "We'll leave the punishing to Mr. Bailey. But Beaver, I'm not letting you off the hook about this typewriter-- you're going to keep your promise and stick to it."

Okay, that's enough tearing it down, I suppse.

[JudgeGarth]

I agree that it wasn't cheating just because Eddie typed it for him. After all, it was Beaver's original work.

Speaking of 'The Three Musketeers' ep, I was at the video store today and I saw that they now sell Cliff's Notes of certain classics packaged with the movie version. I wonder if they have one for 'The Three Musketeers'. LOL.

[bingbangbaby]

I didn't understand the big deal in that episode either. Do you think it had to do with the fact that it was supposed to be solving a neatness problem for Beaver? For instance, he couldn't handwrite his paper neatly (and it seemed like that had been an ongoing problem for him) so he was supposed to learn to type it neatly, not have someone else do that part of the work for him. So the cheating didn't come in whether or not it was his original work but in the fact that he didn't produce the paper himself, and because the other kids wouldn't have that advantage. I know it's a stretch, but it was the 50's and that's the most I could make of that whole thing.

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by bingbangbaby

I didn't understand the big deal in that episode either. Do you think it had to do with the fact that it was supposed to be solving a neatness problem for Beaver? For instance, he couldn't handwrite his paper neatly (and it seemed like that had been an ongoing problem for him) so he was supposed to learn to type it neatly, not have someone else do that part of the work for him. So the cheating didn't come in whether or not it was his original work but in the fact that he didn't produce the paper himself, and because the other kids wouldn't have that advantage. I know it's a stretch, but that's the most I could make of that whole thing.

The assignment was NOT required to be typewritten. Beaver did that on his own. Beaver believed it was cheating merely because he did not type the paper himself. Like I said, if Eddie typed up a composition all on his own, then that is cheating. But Eddie merely copied Beaver's words on paper, that's all. What a weird episode.

[tanquant]

I also don't think that it was cheating but what I don't understand is why Beaver didn't take the letter stickers off of the paper and put it of the keyboard? He tried to type it without the letters. No wonder it took him forever.

[bingbangbaby]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

The assignment was NOT required to be typewritten. Beaver did that on his own. Beaver believed it was cheating merely because he did not type the paper himself. Like I said, if Eddie typed up a composition all on his own, then that is cheating. But Eddie merely copied Beaver's words on paper, that's all. What a weird episode.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I think he believed it was cheating because he didn't type it OR handwrite it. I think back then, especially in the lower grades, that was part of the work they were expected to do in doing a paper.

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by tanquant

I also don't think that it was cheating but what I don't understand is why Beaver didn't take the letter stickers off of the paper and put it of the keyboard? He tried to type it without the letters. No wonder it took him forever.

Yeah, thank you for bringing that up. Why didn't he bother to do that? That was crazy.

[tdr]

I thought when Beaver first got the typewriter his first lesson was to take blank stickers and put then on the keys and then refer to a chart to help him locate the right keys. Evidently that was how to self-teach oneself the 'touch' system by taking away the temptation to look at the keys he's typing. I think that makes sense. In my high school typing class I made a B the first 6 weeks because, as the teacher added by note, "looks at keys." We were supposed to look at this big wall chart instead of at the keys. I started doing that, and that's when I began to get both faster and more accurate. Then it was all A's the rest of the way, and I was the fastest guy in the class; but 2 or 3 girls were still faster I change that to a as I read what I just wrote.

[Ireneparalegal]

Whether you see the letters on the keys or not, eventually you need to refer to a chart of some sort to learn to type. Your eyes will eventually learn to stick to what it is you are reading and typing, rather than sneaking a peek at the keys.
I think at the beginning of the scene where Beaver was wanting to type the composition paper, he was more worried abt getting the actual paper typed rather than worrying abt learning to type.

[Jack1000]

I would have no problem having someone type a paper if they were just copying the work and trying to do as neat a job as possible. For the record, Eddie does not type Beaver's composition verbatim. He says, "I'll even throw in some mistakes so that it looks like a little kid did it." My problem with the episode is as stated above, Gilbert even questioning this as cheating with all the crap that he got Beaver into. The only one more mischievous was Larry. But it shows Beaver's gullibility was still present at 14-15.

This is evident with Beaver asking Eddie Haskell of all people for advice or help in the first place! Beaver should have know that Eddie was the master of deception and manipulation by this time in the series. I think that the lesson of this episode was that Ward and June wanted Beaver to not give up in learning how to type by doing the work himself. They thought that with Eddie "helping" Beaver write his composition that Beaver was giving up on the typewriter. They also didn't like Beaver being dishonest because they thought that he got a B+ (on the paper that Eddie typed for him.) on his own effort and later learned this was not true.

But I don't think that it was necessary for Ward to say, "leave the punishment up to Mr. Bailey." Beaver was lectured about doing his own work and the importance of sticking to a task, which I think was enough. Because the assignment was not required to be typed, Beaver could have turned in the work in longhand. But his teacher I think was encouraging Beaver (although not requiring him) to type his compositions to improve neatness.

Jack