As he did in The Practicing Stoic, the author has written a summary that consists mostly of an organized collection of quotations, here to show examples of figures of speech used in spoken and written rhetoric. Each chapter is about a different figure of speech and these are divided into three categories: repetition of words and phrases, structural matters, and dramatic devices. The figures of speech are defined in English and by their Greek name as in “Simple Repetition of Words and Phrases: Epizeuxis…”
I think this work might be dull for someone without a particular interest in the topic. Even so, I found it frequently entertaining because of the many great example quotations. Farnsworth uses quotes from Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Webster, Thomas Paine, Herman Melville, The King James Bible, William Shakespeare, Arthur Conan Doyle, GK Chesterton, and many others. I enjoyed many of these, both as an example of the use of a particular figure of speech and in general.

Here are two examples:
1. For Litotes:
She was not quite what you call refined. She was not quite what you would call unrefined. She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot. Mark Twain

2. For Prolepsis:
"Although the fate of Poland stares them in the face, there are thoughtless dilettanti or purblind worldlings who sometimes ask us: "What is it that Britain and France are fighting for?" To this I answer: "If we left off fighting you would soon find out." Winston Churchill ( )

Hard going!

To be an effective guide to rhetoric, this book should have been shorter, with not so many examples. As it is, I found myself reading it mainly as a quotation book--and spending lots of time looking things up in Wikipedia to see what the hell they were actually talking about. As an educated person, I find myself using these rhetorical devices from time to time, but I could have never told you their names. They are just ways that educated, thinking people write, and why we choose one way over another is hard to say. Perhaps there are some who sit down and ask themselves, "What type of rhetorical device will be most effective from the speech I'm about to give." But I'm not too sure of that. Certainly after reading this book, however, even more of these devices are likely to creep into my speech and writing. Many of the example quotes are interesting, and a few of them are funny. They come from literature, the law, and politics mostly. Lots of Lincoln, Dickens, G.K. Chesterton, Edmund Burke, Churchill, and many, many others. Especially lots of Irish politicians. The author is very well read. This isn't something you'll be able to read straight through. A few pages at a time works best. Your mileage may vary. ( )

I have been looking for something like this for many years. A text which clearly explains how rhetorical figures are used in English and provides compelling examples for each. Here's a list of just Part III:

DRAMATIC DEVICES:
13. Saying things by not saying them: Praeteritio, p. 166
14. Breaking off in midstream: Aposiopesis, p. 182
15. Correcting oneself: Metanoia, p. 194
16. Rhethorical uses of the negative: Litotes, p. 204
17. Rhetorical questions: Erotema, p. 212
18. Asking questions and answering them: Hypophora
Anticipating objections and meeting them: Prolepsis, p. 226

There are marvelous examples from Lincoln, Twain, Dickens, Pitt, de Quincy, Melville, Hawthorne, Churchill, Shakespeare, Burke, Chesterton, Fielding, Richardson, Adams, Scott, Johnson, Gladstone, Shelley, Shaw, Byron, Stevenson, Trollope, and the Scriptures. Moreover, the books does not have to be read in a linear fashion, one can flip through it as one pleases. I'm grateful to Mr. Farnsworth for his efforts. I only wish the book were longer. ( )

Read about it here: http://www.themillions.com/2011/04/a-review-a-review-farnsworths-classical-engli...