Farnsworth's Classical English Style

This book argues that good writing involves the balancing of contrasts, such as rhythmic contrasts between polysyllabic Latinate words and monosyllabic Saxon words, and contrasts between abstract and concrete imagery and front-loaded and back-loaded sentences.

Farnsworth emphasizes the importance of variation in creating rhetorical energy.

The book provides hundreds of examples from notable writers and orators to illustrate how small choices about words, sentences, and paragraphs contribute to powerful and engaging writing and speech.