Coates, John

John Coates obtained his PhD from the University of Exeter.

G. K. Chesterton as Controversialist, Essayist, Novelist and Critic

2002 0-7734-7096-4
Explores the link between G.K. Chesterton's style and characteristic arguments and the political, ideological and artistic changes of the early twentieth century which continue to shape our lives. The complex effects of the Modernist Revolution and conflicts within Liberalism found in Chesterton and attentive and highly intelligent observer, able to perceive and diagnose the coming crisis.

Social Discontinuity in the Novels of Elizabeth Bowen the Conservative Quest

1998 0-7734-8259-8
Explores Elizabeth Bowen's concern with the effect on human relationships and the individual psyche of social discontinuity. John Coates' arguments are substantiated by textual analysis.

The Rhetorical Use of Provocation as a Means of Persuasion in the Writings of Walter Pater (1839-1894), English Essayist and Cultural Critic: Pater as Controversialist

2011 0-7734-1504-1
This work explores Pater’s work as a public act undertaken to persuade his readers. Rather than thematic analysis or psychological speculation, it argues that Pater is more profitably approached by examining how his style worked to win over the public and by looking at the views he sought to challenge.