Special chars in Appleworks GS

[vagrant@vpnet.chi.il.us (Guy Umbright)]

OK...I give up!   For example, I want to type a 'bullet' character in
Appleworks GS.  Pointless says it is Option-"8".  I type option-"8" and
I get an "8" not the bullet character that I want.  I assume it is
possible to get the special characters (seeing as how half the font is
cluttered with them).  Go ahead and call me stupid and flame me if you 
must, just tell me how to get the special characters into my document.

And another thing, in the word processor, what is the function of the
left-most button? (the one with rectangles on either end of a few lines)
and the round tab-thingy?  Someone gave me disks (right after I bought
a pirate copy from someone, aarrrg) but they had lost their copy of the 
doc...so I am without.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.
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