What type of force may be used to defend a dwelling?

If someone breaks into your home, the law is generally okay with you smacking the intruder around or physically hurting them; things like punches, kicks, shoving, etc. are all reasonable things to do against anyone who enters your home without permission. However, in many jurisdictions, you're not allowed to use deadly force unless (1) you're protecting yourself or others inside of the home from a "violent intrusion" or (2) when the intruder is intending to "commit a felony" inside of your home. These factors can be a bit confusing. Let's talk about why:

First off, it's always important to remember that law school exams and bar exams exist in a fantasy world of fact patterns defined solely by the facts you are given on the exam. This means that on an exam where someone accidentally enters the wrong house only to frighten its inhabitants and get shot in the face, on an exam you would probably want to identify this as an example of unreasonable use of force. What gets confusing is if this same situation played out in the real world, it gets more complicated. People spook pretty easy and, because of that, many states have presumptions that lethal force is okay in these same situations. In other words, many students struggle with questions like these on an exam because they answer more based on what they may do in the real world instead of answering what they should do in the fake exam world that they are tested on.

Put simply, like most things on an exam: don't overthink this too much. If the intruder seems to pose a risk to the people inside of the home, argue that they do. Otherwise, don't get trigger happy.