Word: aveyron
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MADAME RACAMIER, the elegant French hostess, must have expected some sort of unique, charming ingenu when she invited the wild boy of Aveyron to dinner at her chateau in 1801. Most of Parisian high society would be there, from the future king of Norway to Napoleon's valet de chambre. But of her guests Madame Racamier chose to seat beside her the thirteen-year-old wild boy (called Victor), anticipating an evening of compliments from this new talk of the town. Victor hardly obliged. After devouring his own meal (and part of hers as well), he burgled a dozen desserts...
...Harlan Lane points out in The Wild Boy of Aveyron, the child who grew up in the woods of central France entered a world of misconceptions when he surfaced in 1800. Philosophers expected him to fulfill Rousseau's ideal of the "Noble Savage," while a new breed of doctors eyed him for a test of behavior modification. So many ogling spectators filled the streets when Victor was first taken to Paris, in fact, that he became victor and began to bite the scores of outstretched hands...
This analysis, combined with Itard's step-by-step techniques, makes for a comprehensive and instructive study, particularly for those interested in language development and behavioral psychology. The Wild Boy of Aveyron ends, however, with a lengthy digression on the inspiration Itard's work provided for later educators--from the originators of sign language to Maria Montessori. Largely a name-and date-filled chronology of educational history, this last section detracts from both the narrative and pedagogical impact of the Wild Boy's story...
...Wild Child. In the forest of Aveyron in 1801, a savage animal was captured. It was a boy of about twelve, origins unknown, with vulpine instincts and capacities. This Mowgli-like creature became renowned in his own time; a hundred years later, he was an object of fascination for Educator Maria Montessori. Now the cycle begins anew with this work by Francois Truffaut. At first the mud-caked curiosity (Jean-Pierre Cargol) is treated as a zoo animal, visited by Parisians who applaud his pathetic growls and tantrums. Mercifully -or so it seems-the child is taken...
...smoothly as De Gaulle had hoped. In Villefranche-de-Rouergue, the mayor demanded "social justice and democratic liberty." Throughout the department of Aveyron, teachers and veterans boycotted his appearances. But in general, despite a boycott ordered by farm and labor unions, De Gaulle got a rousing welcome. As his convoy of black Citroëns wound through patches of woodlands tinged with autumn, past slate-roofed farmhouses, farmers and their families came to the edges of their fields to wave and doff their berets; and at crossroads, schoolchildren fluttered paper flags. Once again, De Gaulle showed that despite sporadic signs...