Monday, January 30, 2012

Inadvertantly Insightful Answers

A friend on facebook (H/T to PT) put on his status the following, apparently for a basic IR essay or exam:
"Without security the state would seize to exist."
Now, this can be read two ways: that the student completely mistook seize with cease; or the student was very sharp and was deliberately or intuitively channeling a strident form of realism that asserts that states are compelled by insecurity to increase their power--seize territory in order to exist.  

I have no similar examples, but we thought the Spew readers might have some.  Or not. 

1 comment:

Phil Arena said...

Ha. That's good.

I wish I had similar examples. Most of my students' mistakes seem to be of the less than insightful variety though...