[Jim Noble]

The entire premise of academia is that the student requires a professor to tell them the significance of what the author plainly stated

A true professor can help your mind grow. A lot.

I majored in English, and the things that authors "plainly state" is pretty short.

[SampleMan]

I was thinking more of text books than novels and plays. That said, only the author of a novel can tell you what they intended, everyone else is just telling you what they took away.