“The poem begins with ‘I went,’ so we immediately know it is about a past event. It is also in the first person, so we can expect subjectivity.” Other synonyms, near-synonyms and alternatives: consequently, hence, which is why, as a result, this results in, this means that, this entails that, therefore... However, using “consequently” or “hence” can lead to lulling rhythmic repetition in your prose – that is, the reader starts to expect the same pattern in each sentence. See if you can paraphrase and change the sentence structure: “The poem begins with ‘I went,’ so we immediately know it is about a past event. Similarly, the use of the first person implies subjectivity.” Repetition of meaning How’s this for a non-informative (and real!) newspaper headline? “Billionaire investor was keen on investing, fraud trial told” No kidding. And avid dancers like to dance. Avoid such repetition in your writing. Unintentional figura etymologica is also common: “The questioning of the suspect included questions like, ‘Where were you last night?’” Too much QUESTIONing and plain ugly. This, however, is lovely and intentional and begs to be sung: “Sing a song of sixpence.”
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