: Writing "X, Y, and Z" vs "X and Y and Z." Example: The forest was so dense I was practically swimming through it. A dark, murky ocean of shrubs, trees, and bamboo shoots. The

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The additional "and" changes the rhythm of the list. It elongates it, which can have the perhaps paradoxical effect of increasing a sense of pace and tension. "Monotony" isn't simply a matter something being boring or tedious. Used properly, it can convey a meaning of fullness and richness. Somewhat comparable to how "said" disappears in dialog, the additional "and" in such a list disappears (precisely because of its repetition) and has the effect adding a kind of urgency. Each additional "and" builds on the previous one (even if there are only two total) and creates momentum. There is a limit to how many you can get away with before it starts getting tedious, but in the proper context two or three, perhaps even four, can be very effective in controlling pace and conveying mood.

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I don't know how to give a quick summary of its effects. So I'll offer some terminology to aid your research.

That technique is called polysyndeton. Wikipedia has a little bit about the effects: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polysyndeton
You can also go in the other direction and remove all of the conjunctions. That is called asyndeton: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asyndeton

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