as a fellow female senior (68), white but married, someone here at DU helped me when I was a non-tech-savvy "newbie" and didn't know how to either. I'd like to pass it forward. 
Just above the body of the message text when you respond to a post, there is an rectangular form with "smilies" inside. Just click on that and the whole world of "smilies" will appear. The "sarcasm" thingie is there along with a whole bunch of good ones, although you may have to click on the [...] for it to display. See: 
Just select whatever smiley you want and click on it. The code will then be transferred to your message and will show up as a smiley when you post your response. 
Please don't feel as if you've been "bitten." The overwhelming majority of folks here are courteous and although we may occasionally "bark" a bit more than we mean, a mean bark is not usually intentional. 
Please enjoy the smilies! I do and this is one of my faves: 
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