But surely the professor has a prerogative to steer students from certain interpretations of a text-- that's kind of their job.

I suppose it depends on if the prof is teaching you how to think, or what to think. In my experience, a prof discouraged bad theses by pointing out why they'd be hard to defend. Instead of saying, "No, you can't even suggest that," they'd probably say, "If you want to argue that Hamlet was a Scientologist, you're going to have to address the fact that Scientology didn't exist when this was written." If the student doesn't, or doesn't do so convincingly, then the student gets a bad grade. All of that is steering.

I don't think a lit prof would allow someone to do a paper about coded messages in a text because, presumably, the student is supposed to demonstrate his knowledge/understanding of literature. You don't need to actually read the work, much less comprehend it, in order to play codebreaker with it. I certainly never had an assignment so open-ended that I could treat the story as irrelevant. The actual purpose of the class is a much bigger issue than whether or not the prof agrees with the thesis.

I like both these actors (and have at one time or another considered them sexy), but this is still wrong:

JEREMY PIVEN & ANTHONY ANDERSON HEADLINE SVEDKA VODKA EROTICA READING SERIES
WHAT & WHO: Jeremy Piven and Anthony Anderson perform in the latest chapter of SVEDKA Vodka’s Erotica Reading Series with sizzling performances of their favorite erotica during a private, exclusive and dimly lit evening for their friends and Hollywood insiders. The series brings together celebrities and scenesters from film, television, literature and the arts for a one-of-a-kind foray into the world of erotica and celebrates SVEDKA’s on-going campaign into the world of adult entertainment.

I'm reminded of the worst paper I was ever assigned: Would Romeo and Juliet have made it as a couple had they not, you know, committed suicide.

I still have the paper around here somewhere.

Would Romeo and Juliet have made it as a couple had they not, you know, committed suicide.

Counterrealities are fun to imagine, but that negates the entire purpose of the play, damnit! It's "Feuding is evil and will only lead to bad ends," not "Can this couple endure?" (tm Kathy and Judy on WGN radio).

My brain has currently cast Anthony Anderson as Romeo and Jeremy Piven as Juliet.

I'd like to get back to work, but I'm too busy hoping those crazy kids will make a go of it.

I'd like to get back to work, but I'm too busy hoping those crazy kids will make a go of it.

Which, frankly, is an odd reaction for me to have but the slash just isn't working for me with them.

That's because Piven+Cusack = OTP.

Which, frankly, is an odd reaction for me to have but the slash just isn't working for me with them.

Are you imagining them in period costume? It might help.

My brain just got doubleteamed by ita and Plei.

I'll need some bleach if I'm going to get any more work done today.

stop it.