Sunday, October 13, 2019

Graduation Speech: We Are Giants :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

Sept. 8, 2008: Colossal corridors and mammoth Seniors greeted our frightened Freshmen. Though we clung desperately to our remaining drops of confidence from the pinnacle of eighth grade, they evaporated under the sheer intensity of high school. We dared not poke our unprotected heads out to view this new realm, too terrified of who or what we might find. Some of us, it seemed, feared our strange surroundings would swallow us whole. Fortunately, curiosity overpowered even the most paralyzing insecurity, and slowly we prodded our boundaries, cautiously testing our skills and talents. We joined clubs and teams that matched our abilities, carving a circle of compassionate friends from the once-distant swarm. And backed by the support of these caring allies, we settled into the routine of adolescence. Until someone uttered those eight terrifying words: "What will you be when you grow up?" Of course, we had first been introduced to this ambiguous question while still in diapers, but always had brushed it aside with the thought, "I'll decide later." High school, we discovered, was later. So we embarked on the tedious process of inventing our dreams. We scoured the career center, hounded our counselors, pestered our parents and teachers. We pleaded with friends to answer in our stead. Certainly, we knew it was our decision, but we had to try to get out of it, right? Make someone else decide. But there is one instant in everyone's life when they explode from beneath that Xeroxed shroud of "General Public" and slip into the shimmering gown of "Individualism." Soon we understood that to find our passions we must step beyond the tight, comfortable confines or our abilities. We were forced to expose ourselves once more to the vulnerability of trial and error. But this time, as we delved into unfamiliar activities, we had the self-assurance to attempt the experiment. And so, amid the swirling waters of high school, backed by constant guidance from faculty, parents, and peers, we gradually formulated a future.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Evaluating Mintzs Sweetness and Power :: Sugar Sweet Tooth Foods Essays

Evaluating Mintz's Sweetness and Power Why would anyone feel the need to write an entire book on such a mundane topic such as sugar? Look around at some food products you might have and you will realize that many if not all of them contain sugar in some form or another. For example, a can of soda, which most people drink everyday, contains (depending on the brand) approximately 40 grams of sugars. Look further and you might find that even things such as cheese or chips or soup contain several grams of sugar in them. The wide diversification of products that contain sugar just goes to show you how widespread the use of sugar really is. This fact alone could be enough to convince someone to create a book solely about sugar. One passage that Mintz quotes on page 15 that really seems to capture our (Westerners) infatuation with sugar, and a strong reason the book at hand is as follows: Western peoples consume enormous per capita quantities of refined sugar because, to most people, very sweet foods taste very good. The existence of the human sweet tooth can be explained, ultimately, as an adaptation of ancestral populations to favor the ripest-and hence the sweetest-fruit. In other words, the selective pressures of times past are most strikingly revealed by the artificial, supernormal stimulus of refined sugar, despite the evidence that eating refined sugar is maladaptive. With such an obsession with sweet foods, there is an obvious desire for an explanation of how such a once unknown substance took center stage on everybody's snack, dessert, and candy list. That's where Sidney W. Mintz comes into play. He decided to write this book Sweetness and Power, and from the looks of all the sources he used to substantiate his ideas and data, it seems that he is not the first person to find the role that sugar plays in modern society important. By analyzing who Mintz's audience is meant to be, what goals he has in writing this book, what structure his book incorporates, what type, or types, of history he represents within the book, what kind of sources he uses, and what important information and conclusions he presents, we can come to better understand Mintz's views and research of the role of sugar in history, and how much it really affects our lives as we know them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To begin to understand and evaluate Mintz's Sweetness and Power, one must first understand who his book is aimed toward, in other words, his audience.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Free schools Essay

Are an interesting idea but the government needs to be very careful to make sure that educational standards improve for all children and that the whole community benefits. The idealogy behind â€Å"free Schools â€Å"are that they are non-profit making, independent, state-funded schools. They are able to choose what subjects they choose for their pupils to study and have many less restrictions imposed on them on how they choose to allocate their finances. For this very reason free schools would be varied in their nature as they would not be forced to follow for example the national curriculum. They are not defined by size or location: there is not a single type of free school or a single reason for setting them up. Free schools could be either primary or secondary schools. They could be located in traditional school buildings or appropriate community spaces such as office buildings or church halls. They could be set up by a wide range of proposers – including charities, universities, businesses, educational groups, visionary teachers or committed parents – who want to make a difference to the educational landscape. They might be needed because there simply are not enough school places in a local area and children have to travel too far to the nearest school. Free schools are not academically selective and open to children of all abilities. School is a defining factor in our lives and also promote a shared sense of community which is important as cohesive communities are generally more happy and safe than uncohesive ones – there is no discrimination or segregation and they nurture a shared set of beliefs and values and goals, living together in harmony and mutual respect. An example of a community that lacks this is Oldham – in which the races, Asians and whites were segregated and this triggered violent race riots. This happened due to the immense divide between Asian and White communities and their inability to mix and appreciate one another. This event made me think that this was very bad for the community and did nothing but encourage racial segregation. Looking at the footage of the riots of 2001 it is clear that situation could have been easily avoided had everyone learnt to appreciate one another. Community cohesion is about ensuring that all people from different backgrounds and communities feel they belong to the place in which they live. We cannot realise our ambitions by living in isolation to one another, it must be as a united city, where the differences of race, colour, and religion are embraced. A sense of community cohesion as we grow up makes us happier in general and encourages us to be unprejudiced and non-racist. Our distinctive character is developed early on in life and to be encouraged to mix with other people with different beliefs and religions helps promote a safer and on the whole a more happier and strong community. We start school within the first few years of our lives and being mixed with different people at this institution endorses a stronger community. We spend a good part of a decade at school so there is no doubt that school will be largely responsible for our values and beliefs, as well as our personality. Depending on what school we go to we are thrust into a shared community and we learn to get along and share beliefs. As stated in the Source material, â€Å"Being part of a community helps us develop an identity – a sense of who we are†. An uncohesive community has exactly the opposite effect, and children growing up in an uncohesive community can grow up to have negative views and not feel like they belong and the can feel like they do not have a stake in society and being able to join in and influence decisions that affect their lives. When David Cameron and Nick Clegg (leaders of the Conservative party and the Liberal Democrat party) were elected to form a coalition government in 2010, one of the Conservatives policies were â€Å"the Big Society† which was apparently based on a model of Balsall Heath – A town with low levels of community cohesion. The idea of the â€Å"Big Society† was that people take greater control of their communities and not rely on the government and local authorities to provide services like schools, community centres, youth clubs. This town has now been transformed and the town is now clean and tidy and people of all different cultural backgrounds mix. The most positive effects of this were that community cohesion increased in a drastic way. There is no doubt that there are some beneficial aspects of free schools such as people of all different ethnicities mixing together as a free school is not academically selective. This discourages discrimination and community cohesion. Some people may argue that the current government is trying to distance themselves from responsibility and segregate society but I believe that David Cameron is good to encourage people to take action if they are deprived of something that will be a credit to the community. Further argument counteracting this is that some people think that such people in deprived areas are not skilled or have enough knowledge to undertake a difficult project of opening a school, particularly a secondary school. A quote from a recent article of the Telegraph states â€Å"These kids will be left behind, because the second point is that, if you set up a market mechanism, then there are winners and losers, but, in this case the losers are children, left behind in a â€Å"sink† school. † The endorsement of free schools is debatable, but interesting. Nick Clegg declared on the 5th September in his speech â€Å"Free schools would not become the ‘preserve of the privileged few'† which outlines the fact that he thinks free schools would in effect privatize the education system and allow the new institutions to cream off the best pupils and resources. On the other hand the Education Secretary Michael Gove who wholeheartedly believes that free schools will end the â€Å"rationing† of good education. He believes that free schools to replace failing comprehensives will give ‘all children access to the kind of education only the rich can afford’. He outlines this in Source 1 as well as saying free schools will â€Å"cut the achievement gap between rich and poor†. However , free schools could lead to social segregation as middle class parents are likely to be very keen on them, leading to a situation where middle class and working class people do not mix. This could end up with middle class children going to good schools and working class children remaining in local authority schools where there is very little funding. Another group who are really keen on free schools are faith groups and this could lead to segregation on religious grounds. Standards for school would therefore not rise uniformly for everyone which would be a big disadvantage and there would also be low community cohesion which is explained above. I personally think it is unfair that some pupils don’t have the opportunity to go to a high achieving school as I went through this whole school â€Å"lottery† trying for three high achieving schools but I failed to get into any of them, simply because I was out of the catchment area. It is worth setting up free schools in deprived areas where children are forced to go to a low achieving school, so they have the same opportunities that wealthier children have. Michael Gove planned to branch out free schools here after apparent success in America with free schools, where 99 free schools have been established. Evidence suggests that 83% of free schools in the USA are doing no better than their conventional counterparts – which brings me to question whether the opening of free schools really are beneficial and whether the opening of them would cut the bridge between rich and poor. However in further research some students in these schools feel that they are in a better position in a free school where they apply rigorous discipline and are challenging. This again makes the idea of free schools questionable. In Source 3, a group of six hundred parents expressed their desire for their children to go to a school other than the local state school. This brings about the conclusion that if this many parents are unhappy with the type of provision of state schooling institutions, something must be done. This opinion is also met with Rachel Wolfs in Source 4 who argues that â€Å"hundreds of parents have suffered too long from a two tier education system – one in which the wealthy can get into the excellent local school by buying a house in the right catchment area or paying school fees, while less off parents are stuck. † I believe this is an extremely unfair system and one in which the wealthy seem to have it all and working class citizens are stuck in a never ending rut. In Source 5 another parents view is expressed, where she expresses her desire for a school in which most of its students could walk to and not sending their children 4 miles away. Source 6 promotes the fact that some people are planning to profit from the government’s initiative – â€Å"seeking to profit at the expense of the taxpayer† states Ed Balls in Source 8. He continues with â€Å"Since free schools introduced a free schools policy the country’s education standards in maths and scince have plummeted†. This Source brings about more negativity on the topic of free schools and questions the beneficial aspects of free schools. Source 7, an extract adapted from the website of the National Union of Teachers promotes an opinion of high negativity towards free schools, of which 24 have opened this September. A quote of this source is ‘†This government’s attack on state education has to be opposed. Laws to create many more academies and the new so called free schools are an attack on the very existence of free, state comprehensive education which is democratically accountable. It is privatisation on a grand scale and is unacceptable†. From my research many people agree with the condemning of free schools with NASUWT stating â€Å"†The free schools programme will be anything but free. Free schools are an unnecessary and costly gamble in educating the country’s children. The Government is simply not acting responsibly by not making clear where the money will come from to fund the free schools policy. Major education programmes have in the last few weeks been cut or frozen. The public would be right to be concerned that money saved from other education programmes will be used to fund the free schools policy. † There is yet more negativity on the introduction of free schools with ATL an education union saying â€Å"†Parents or teachers misguided enough to set up a free school will soon find out that running a school needs a lot more than knowing pupils’ names and an alternative vision of education. It needs knowledge of employment law, health and safety and the admissions code. And private companies are waiting in the wings to provide these services. ATL has produced a directory listing the major organisations which want to get involved in managing state schools – England’s schools: not open for business. † These all show there is much negativity on free schools. Also NASUWT outlines the fact that it is not clear where the money to fund free schools will come from which brings about the conclusion that the government are taking money from existing state schools which may not benefit the majority of children in the local area. In Source 9 a blogger wrote her opinion which depicts that instead of reducing segregation free schools would in fact increase it, by being â€Å"highly selective† especially for parents who are forcefully ambitious in their choice of school, leaving behind children, for whom there may not be a voice. In Source 10 we look at Sweden, which already has free schools implemented but a person called Per Thulberg who analysed this said schools had not led to better results and Michael Gove contradicted this stating that if parents had more choice then existing schools would be forced to improve, but Per Thurlberg said better results simply came from students with better backgrounds going into those schools. These statistics suggest that free schools may not bring about better results and will not determine that there are better quality schools for the public to choose from which was the point of free schools being created in the first place. Free schools may simply be taking money from the local comprehensive where students may inevitably end up. Another factor which questions the beneficial aspects of free schools are the growing popularity of faith schools – demands to build more faith schools in the form of free schools are reportedly growing – this is a feature which some say will segregate society further and not promote community cohesion. http://www. dailymail. co. uk/news/article-2046715/Richard-Dawkins-attacks-alien-rubbish-taught-Muslim-faith-schools. html http://www. guardian. co.uk/education/2011/oct/04/alarm-over-racial-segregation-london-schools. These articles – especially the second depict the racial segregation that faith schools may cause. I think personally that large numbers of faith schools in Britain will not benefit the society as a whole. In conclusion and to be fair and in all honesty it is just too soon to say whether free schools are going to be a good thing and create a more fair educational society for all of us. It is very clear that the present system is not working and puts immense pressure on both parents and children to fulfill the need to attend a good school. Once parents were allowed to see the published national league tables of which schools perform well as opposed to which schools did not, it was only a matter of time before wealthy parents were able to move to a â€Å"catchment† area to secure the best school places for their children leaving behind the poorer child to accept whatever was on offer. This has caused a very great divide in good and average performing schools and caused a lot of low morale for many parents in this country. If free schools can address this major issue it can only be a good thing. However, it can be argued that the odds are stacked against them. In our present times with our bleak economic outlook any system that is trying to get on its feet will gobble a lot of financial resources and one has to look at where this money is coming from and whether our already existing state schools who do not join in will suffer as a result. Competition is whole heartedly healthy generally in a society but not an unfair one where competition takes place in schools where clever kids are already creamed off and able to go to better schools. This can be a major disadvantage and in itself causes segregation of a different sort. I feel that if people are inspired to take on the opportunity of setting up a free school then they probably have a vision of a better , alternative system they are aspiring to which is a good thing as the government has set up a lot of stringent conditions which have to be passed to set up a free school. In all, apathy and not doing anything to address the issues in our schools is a worse misdemeanor than at least trying to see whether free schools hold the answer to our problems and so we can only hope for our future generations that free schools work. As in everything in life only time will tell.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Connections Essay

The overall connection that I chose to analyze in this report was the importance of marriage, as it is an idea that is present in almost everybody’s life, and it is something that heavily impacts the nature of a society. Marriage is seen in society in both positive and negative ways, involving emotions from true love to bitterness. In the texts A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini, The Ballad of Calvary Street by James K Baxter, The Silk by Joy Cowley and Atonement directed by Joe Wright, this idea of the importance of marriage is clearly present in all of them, yet they are all shown so differently (negatively and positively) as to give examples of the ways that it is interpreted in different societies, and allow me to deduce the importance that this idea holds on a global scale. Romantic love is recognized in most societies by the practice of marriage. This is a prominent symbol in all the texts I have covered except for Atonement, where the absence of marriage is used to show the couple’s true love. In this film, we see that Cecelia and Robbie are in love, however a misunderstanding on the part of Cecelia’s sister, Briony, means that Cecelia and Robbie are prevented from marriage or even being together. This is shown as a particularly tragic incident, which shows the importance that society places on the process of marriage. This is also a very prominent idea in the novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, which is set in Afghanistan. We see two women, Laila and Mariam, who are owned and controlled by their shared husband, and their lives literally rely on him, because as women, they are unable to attain independence due to their country’s beliefs. In Afghan society, marriage is a sacred business, and any sexual relations outside of marriage are greatly looked down upon, and the punishment for a female offender can be as severe as torture or death by the girl’s family or husband. This also shows the idea of the importance of marriage that is shown in Atonement, as marriage is seen as the pinnacle of happiness in both texts, However in A Thousand Splendid Suns it is shown in a more negative manner, with marriage being shown as an essential burden rather than a desire. Marriage is also shown as a necessity in the poem, The Ballad of Calvary Street, but for different reasons. In this poem, a poorly suited elderly couple stay together, to prevent the disruption of their family. This shows that even New Zealand society can view marriage as an important action, and a obligation in functional family life. This shows a similar idea to that in A Thousand Splendid Suns and Atonement, that marriage is a necessary action. In the short story The Silk, we see an elderly married couple, of which the husband is nearing death. The woman in the relationship is finding it hard to come to terms with her husbands impending demise, as she has a set routine which revolves around her and her husband’s relationship. This presents the idea that is shown in A Thousand Splendid Suns, Atonement and The Ballad of Calvary Street, that marriage is a prerequisite for a happy life, and it is a tragedy to be without it. In the Silk, we can tell that this married couple are truly in love from quotes such as, â€Å"she guarded him so possessively that she even resented the twice-weekly visits from the district nurse,† which shows the devoted way that they take care of each other, presenting the traditional idea of marriage. In Atonement, when childhood sweethearts Robbie and Cecelia are prevented from being together, we are struck by the tragedy of the fact that they will never be able to get married, and live out their lives together. This portrays the aspect of marriage that is shown in The Silk, that marriage is a symbol of the love between two people, and that it is a contract which binds the two people together for the rest of their lives, as we see Robbie and Cecelia denied of this entitlement. In today’s society, a happy couple who are in love are expected to get married. This relates to both The Silk and Atonement, as in both texts marriage is seen as a necessity for the happiness of the people involved, which further supports the idea that society regards marriage as particularly important. From these texts, society may be able to reassess its outlook on the controversial matter of gay marriage. The tragedy of Cecelia and Robbie’s separation that is shown in Atonement and the portrayal of the happiness involved in marriage that is shown in The Silk could be enough to convince the large portion of society that is against gay marriage that they are wrong, as in both texts marriage is shown as a component of happiness that should not be denied of anyone. The relationships and situations that are shown in the texts are not exclusive to heterosexual couples, and would translate just as well to homosexual relationships, meaning that the ideas attached to the texts can be applied to same-sex couples as well, and could have an influence on the opinion that people hold towards gay marriage. Unfortunately, marriage is not always a happy affair, as it is intended to be. This is plainly shown in the text The Ballad of Calvary Street, as we see an unfortunate couple who are forced to remain together due to the stigma attached to divorce. Quotes such as â€Å"Mum takes down the family files,† suggest that family is not an important thing to the couple, since they have fallen apart, but that they continue to treat it as such, as they consider it their duty as parents to remain married. This idea that marriage is a compulsory task is also shown in A Thousand Splendid Suns, as we see protagonist Laila is forced into marriage, for her own survival. Her husband knowingly takes advantage of her vulnerable situation, saying, â€Å"These days, times being what they are, a woman needs a husband,† showing that marriage can often take place for reasons other than love (as was shown in The Ballad of Calvary Street), and that this can easily be taken advantage of. This presents the idea that in many different societies, (New Zealand and Afghan), marriage is seen as an essential measure, even when one or both of the people involved in the relationship are unhappy. Although this is an unfortunate truth, it is one that must sometimes be accepted, as it is often present in today’s society. These texts could help people come to terms with the idea that marriage is not always a representation of love, as they show legitimate alternative reasons for marriage, (the stability of family life or the safety of a person in a certain community. ) This could benefit society as it would create an understanding and acceptance of the reality of marriage today. In conclusion, the idea of marriage is a common theme in many texts, including Atonement directed by Joe Wright, The Silk by Joy Cowley, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and The Ballad of Calvary Street by James K Baxter. Although marriage is not always the quintessential act of love and can sometimes tell a tragic story, it is important that it is expressed in forms such as these texts so that society can reflect on its faults and hopefully improve its approach on the subject.

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Barrier and communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Barrier and communication - Essay Example These are the logical responsibilities of communication. Communication also impinges on the enthusiasm of employees to endow with useful suggestions In fact, effective communication between supervisors and employees for employees to make the important development require at every stage of decision. Employees characteristically are diffident to shape their goals, their concerns and their disappointments. Of course, an employee may be a moaner and share views to the summit a supervisor silently begs for less "communication." Much more widespread is necessitate better understanding what an employee is "really thinking. There are a number of ways that people go erroneous situation when communicating. Unfortunately, obstructions to workplace communication can escort to co-worker alienation, a stoppage to make a good intuition, arguments and misinterpretations. Perceptual Barriers: Employees nurture familiarized to perceiving things in meticulous ways, making it complicated to distinguish new meanings. For example, a manager who has a preference to appoint Ivy League graduates may neglect the outstanding and excellent contributions that could be made by a group of people, society, community and college students. Due to unfounded perceptions, a worker may urge incorrect solutions. Sandra Cleary suggests in her book â€Å"Communication: A Hands-On Approach† that education and intelligence impinge on our way of thinking, as do a persons physiological, security and self esteem needs. Physiological Barriers: Physiological barriers are characteristics of the speaker or listener that interfere with the transmission or reception of knowledge. Such as, an itching may make it complicated to be considerate to a conversation or drowsiness may affect an employees attentiveness. Physical soreness, aches and depression also unconstructively influence hearing and elucidation of a message. Other issues, such as famine,

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Sales Presentation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Sales Presentation - Essay Example In this stage, it is important for the seller to select those prospects who can provide maximum profit to the organization. In the prospecting stage, information about the client or the customer as well as the selling organization is evaluated. Description of customer The potential customer chosen for sales presentation will be Whole Foods Market. The retail store is a grocery supermarket chain based in America (Wholefoodsmarket, 2013a). The retail chain is headquartered in Texas and was founded by John Mackey who is the current Chief Executive Officer for the organization. The company was established in 1980 and is publicly traded. The retail chain is known for selling of foods which are minimally processed and organically farmed (Wholefoodsmarket, 2013b). At present the organization has around 400 stores located in different parts of America and United Kingdom. Description of the organization The organization name is organic valley, which is a cooperative of about 1500 farm familie s producing market certified and premium organic food products. It is one of the largest organic farmer’s cooperative in United States. ... In the current sales presentation, the prospect chosen is one of the well known supermarket stores in United States. Wholesale Food Markets is into selling of those food products which are considered natural and organic. The retail chain is strict about organic and natural foods and allows only those food products which clear the safety standards according to organic food committee. This will be the primary reason for targeting Wholesale Food Market. It can be seen that both the selling organization and the prospect dwell on a basic goal of serving high quality and sustainable food products. This will be the primary touch point for rapport building. It is necessary to find common traits so that the two parties can relate to each other. Organic Valley’s objective of sustainable and eco-friendly foods and Wholesale Food Market’s mission of providing quality foods will help in breaking ice during sales pitch (Organic Valley, 2013b). Wholesale Food Market purchases products from regional, local and international wholesale vendors and suppliers. Most of its purchases come from local players provided these local food producers maintain the quality standards. According to the current reports on organic farming, only a few producers in United States meet the quality and standard criteria for organic foods. Organic Valley is one of them. These will be the building blocks during company description to the prospective client. The objective will be to initiate relationship even from an early stage, so that the prospect can connect with the company as well as its products and services. APPROACH The third stage of a selling process in approach. Here a rapport is built with the prospective customer taking the

Monday, October 7, 2019

Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Law - Essay Example These doctrines are specific performance and partial performance. When and how these doctrines were invoked and why they are rarely ordered in construction cases are the major points to consider in this essay. Doctrine of Specific Performance This doctrine of specific performance is a remedy granted by the court in cases where there is breach of duty or contract committed either by the owner or by the contractor. It is an equitable remedy that compels a party to execute a contract according to the precise terms agreed upon or to execute it substantially so that, under the circumstances, justice will be done between the parties ( Hill, 2005). It is the right of the party to a contract to demand that the defendant (the party who it is claimed breached the contract) be ordered in the judgment to perform the contract. Specific performance may be ordered instead of (or in addition to) a judgment for money if the contract can still be performed, and money cannot sufficiently reward the pla intiff (Ibid). The basis for the grant of this remedy is equity. Doctrine of Partial Performance The doctrine of partial performance is an exception to the requirement prescribed by the Statute of Frauds that any agreement to transfer land must be written and executed. Partial Performance of an oral agreement can render it as a binding contract (Gervais et al, 2010). The essence of this doctrine was that if the plaintiff could show that he or she had acted under the contract - had partly performed the contract - then a court of equity would enforce the contract even though a court of law would not. The doctrine of part performance requires that the plaintiff must be able to show that he or she has made a substantial commitment to the contract so that it would be unconscionable to allow the defence. Note that it must be the acts of the plaintiff. The doctrine is based on the idea of unconscionability generated by the plaintiff's reliance on the existence of a contract. It does not ma tter whether the acts of the defendants clearly show that there is a contract (Heffey et al. 1998). Difference between the two doctrines and their application to construction cases The invocation of Specific Performance is based on a written contract or any agreement entered into by the parties. And non-performance of any provision or stipulation in the contract will make the erring party liable for breach of contract and an action for specific performance will be granted as in the case of Kasten Construction Co. v. Maple Ridge Construction Co. There is no blanket prohibition against a court ordering the equitable relief of specific performance in a case involving breach of a construction contract as held in the case of Granite Broadway Dev.  LLC v. 1711 LLC. However, this doctrine of specific performance is rarely a remedy in construction cases. If a contractor fails to perform or renders defective performance, it is unlikely than the owner will want the court to order the same c ontractor to continue the work. Instead, contract damages are the primary remedy in construction cases (Wanek, nd). The doctrine of partial performance on the other hand is invoked based on the intention of the parties strengthened by the fact that it was partially performed. In Elsberry v. Sexton, the Supreme Court of Florida unequivocally held that part performance is an equitable doctrine only and is not available in actions for damages at