Using the Verbatim Environment

     \documentstyle[12pt]{article}
     \begin{document}
     
     In \LaTeX, braces \{\ \}\ limit the scope 
     of certain commands, as in \verb,{\it text},. 
     Other commands, such as \verb,\verb, can 
     use any two identical symbols.

     The following are control sequences used 
     in \LaTeX\ to allow the formatting of certain 
     reserved symbols. 

     \begin{verbatim}
     \& & - ampersand 
     \{ { - left brace 
     \} } - right brace 
     \$ $ - dollar sign 
     \% % - percent sign 
     \# # - number sign 
     \_ _ - underscore 
     \end{verbatim}

     These symbols are unpredictable, so be careful. 
     Note that on the output the embedded \LaTeX\ commands
     are not executed.

     \end{document}