Make a 200-point “a” (a point is a printer’s measure equal to 1/72 inch):

Put the “a” in Times font:

This draws a large “a” at coordinates {1,0}. PlotRange->2 makes the drawing area extend 2 units in every direction. Axes->True turns on axes so you can see the coordinate positions:

Rotate the “a” by 30° about its center:

Use Table to make a list of five even numbers:

Use Table to make a graphic with five evenly spaced “a”’s:

Use Table to make a graphic with five “a”’s rotated about the point {0,0}:

Make an interactive interface where the position of the “a” is controlled by a slider.

Wrap the expression with Manipulate, replace the fixed x coordinate 1 with the variable d, and specify that d goes from -2 to 2 with an initial value of 1:

Add a control for the rotation of the “a”:

Add a control for the size of the “a”:

Add an input field where you can enter any text:

With that kind of input field, you have to put quotes around what you type to indicate that it’s text (and not a symbol). Make the input field automatically treat what you type as text so you don’t need to type the quotes: