Introductions should grab your reader's attention, set up the topic you'll be writing about, and logically transition into your thesis statement at the end.
It seems like a an introduction for these three characters and their courage might start off with a quote about courage. This quote could either come from the novel itself or an outside source. You could then comment on that quote and tie it to the courage shown by Jem, Scout, and Mrs. Dubose.
Each of these characters is courageous for very different reasons and it would be worth mentioning that in your introduction because that should be a key point in your paper. Some examples you might look at in the essay would be, Jem is courageous at the very beginning of the novel because Dill bets him that he is too scared to touch the Radley house, but Jem proves him wrong. He also shows courage in going back to the Radley house later to retrieve his pants. Scout shows courage when she stands up to Frances for calling Atticus a bad name. Mrs. Dubose shows courage by fighting her addiction. Although each of these are signs of courage, they are also very different from one another and courageous for different reasons. Your introduction should probably note that courage is complex and can be shown at any age and in a wide variety of ways. The courage Jem showed when he touched the Radley house with his toe would be considered minor compared to the courage that Mrs. Dubose showed in beating her addition, but for each of them at the time, it was hard to do. You might also talk about how their courageous actions tell us something about their strength of character. So, you'll need to find a connection between these types of courage in order for the reader to see why you are talking about them together, and that connection can be made clear in your thesis, which should be the last sentence of your introduction.
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