First, I haven't read your paper yet, so these comments are simply a response to your Moodle message.

My first reaction was to check the Moodle logs to see if you had listened to the class orientation, because your statement about my questions being "opinion based" was a red flag.  Recall that only student opinions backed by historical evidence or thoughtful analysis are the only opinions I'm interested in regarding this class.  Even you wondered whether you had been analytical enough.  There is no better way to find that out than running your ideas/draft by me well before the due date/time.

Also, I did re-read my instructions about not grading on length alone, but fear you may have focused too much on that single phrase without considering the other context… the much longer part about "but in order to answer the questions I've posed, to the depth that will illustrate a college-level analysis of the issues, I have often found it necessary that students take the proper amount of time and space to do the job well."

Finally, on the other sources you asked about, I apologize for not making this clearer. (I appreciate your question and will update the instructions for future terms and future students.)  They were not required for this assignment, so there is no expectation on my part and there will be no positive or negative impact on any student's paper or grade.

To my credit, I did include my wishes, but put them in the Forum Instructions for this week.  Instead, I will make them generic for the entire class, by putting them in the Syllabus.  In short, you are not required to do any research outside of the required sources (books/videos/readings) for this course. You certainly may incorporate other knowledge, and the citation format is very easy.  (I'll leave the MLA or Turabian Styles for your English classes.)  Cite your sources when you make statements that are not considered common knowledge. eg (Appy p.147) or (Herring p.98) or (http://www.coolhistoryfact.com)