Literary over-analysis

Almost every Language Arts/English class has had to go through this process:
-The teacher tells the class to read a book.
-You read the blurb on the back, or you flip through it and decide it will be an okay book.
-The teacher assigns you to read 1 chapter every two days or so, for the sake of the students that still read at a third-grade level, albeit the fact that they are in middle school/high school.
-The day after reading the chapter you were assigned, the teacher lectures on the importance of semantics, allusion, metaphors, or underlying themes in the book.
-The teacher pulls out any random sentence and over-analyzes any "underlying themes" hidden in that one sentence. This step is repeated for every portion of the book.
-You start to despise the book, even if it were a good book. Ex: "Of Mice and Men" and "Tom Sawyer"
-You are assigned to write an essay on the book/story. Everyone uses Sparknotes.
-You receive a bad grade because you interpretation was "wrong"
or
-You receive an 'A' because you just copied down whatever crap the teacher says about the book.

Prior to the seventh grade, I was an avid reader, but then our L.A class had a teacher who would find meaning that wasn't intended in the book, and would make the class do the same.

Before long, my interest in reading was dwindling and I was ridden with anxiety anytime I went to the library, because the books caused me anxiety and I could no longer read without getting a headache. A minor headache, but a headache nonetheless.

Now I'm wondering, is it just me, or is literary over-analysis a rising problem?

Also, interpretation is all based on the interpreter, so if someone had a different interpretation, they're not necessarily wrong.

I get A's reluctantly, because I copy down whatever crud the teacher says.

I hate essays.