My essay thesis statement is: "Atticus is a good, respectful and calm person throughout the novel." What should my introduction be?

Before you jump into this essay's introduction, you should
outline the body using this thesis.  Once you've done the bulk of the work, the
introduction need only contain 3-4 sentences:

1. a
   hook (easily written once the essay's core is planned
   out)


2. your thesis - which here actually
   contains your three categories so you might want to add a
   sentence


3. a seque into the body of your paper (perhaps
   introducing the ultimate point of your paper as you will see
   below).

Right now it looks like your three body
paragraphs will focus on character traits of Atticus Finch.  You might mention THAT
somewhere in the intro.  Also, you might want to make some final conclusion about these
three character traits.  What does being "good, respectful, and calm" actually
do for Atticus in the novel?  Are these the secrets to his success?
 Are these reasons he is a good father?  Are these reasons he is
respected?

Finally, I'm going to encourage you to come up
with a different adjective in your thesis to replace "good."  Most teachers agree that
"good," used anywhere in an essay is a bad word.  There has to be
something more specific you are driving at.  Is he a good listener?
 Or perhaps you are aiming at good hearted?  In this case, perhaps
you mean to say he is compassionate.  At any rate, good is far too
common to base an argument on.  Consider alternates.