Not everyone needs this book—those that do will find it indispensable. A sort of alternative workbook to be used with Wheelock's Latin, A Comprehensive Guide to Wheelock's Latinoffers contemporary students working through the main text a simultaneous grammar course. Most of what author Dale Grote covers is English grammar and its relationship to Latin grammar. He assumes most students have not had a thorough grammar education, and since mastery of Latin necessitates mastery of grammar, he offers this treatment as supplement and guide.
There are plenty of exercises to help internalize key concepts, as well as answers to selected exercises at the end of the book. While students could record their answers in the book itself, it's a better idea to write them on a separate sheet of paper so multiple students can use the same copy. This cannotbe used in place of Wheelock's Latin; though it makes an excellent complement, there is not enough material here for students to learn Latin, only to aid their study of it elsewhere. Like most Wheelock'ssupplements, Grote's guide can be used in conjunction with other Latin courses, though it works best with that course since each of its forty chapters correlate to those found in Wheelock's.
Grote provides a number of memorization tips as well as etymological information designed to help students retain what they learn. His contemporary, accessible style illuminates many concepts Wheelock's more strictly academic prose often renders difficult to understand. One of the strengths of A Comprehensive Guide to Wheelock's Latinin particular is the plethora of examples—readers won't encounter a new grammatical element before several contextual examples of the one under consideration have been presented. Particularly useful for high school students, this is necessary for those unfamiliar with grammar on anything more than a rudimentary level, and a good resource for those brushing up on previously learned basic Latin.
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