Most good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation, conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice.
Exposition (Initial Situation)
Norwegian immigrant Per Hansa and his family are travelling west through the United States in the late 1800s, and things ain't looking so good. They've lost the rest of their travelling party and don't quite know where to go. Luckily, they catch a break and eventually find their friends, but Hansa's wife Beret never becomes comfortable with the prairies after this experience.
Hansa, on the other hand, is like a kid in a candy store. He snatches up as much land as he can and rushes to build a farm that will outrival all of his neighbors'. Yeah, he's a pretty competitive dude.
Rising Action (Conflict, Complication)
It's not long before Per Hansa and his friends realize that they aren't alone on the prairies, even though the area looks totally deserted. For starters, there are Native Americans living in the area. A lot of the European settlers are scared of the Native Americans, but they're totally pleasant and non-confrontational. In fact, Hansa helps them out and gets a brand new pony for his trouble.
But a problem arises when a group of Irish settlers come through and claim that the land farmed by Hansa's friends belongs to them. A fight ensues and the Irish get crushed by Hansa's closest friend, Hans Olsa.
Per Hansa's wife Beret never finds comfort in their new home. After a giant plague of locusts (eeew!) descends on the Norwegian farms, Beret has a mental breakdown and becomes convinced that she and her family are angering God by trying to live on the American plains.
Climax (Crisis, Turning Point)
After living in the Dakota Territory for several years, the Norwegian settlers run face-first into the worst winter they've ever experienced. The snow falls so heavily for so long that the roof of Hans Olsa's barn starts caving in. Olsa rushes to repair the damage so his cows don't freeze to death. But in the process, he catches pneumonia, which in those days was almost certainly a death sentence.
Per Hansa wants to do whatever he can for his friend, but the weather is too dangerous to fetch the doctor. Meanwhile, his wife Beret thinks that everyone's top priority should be to find a minister for Olsa so that he can confess his sins and try to avoid going to hell. Eventually, she badgers Per Hansa into trekking out into the snow.
Falling Action
Once Per Hansa has decided to go find the minister (or the doctor), he heads outside and gets ready to leave. Before he goes though, one of his sons comes out and tells him that Beret has made some coffee for his journey. Hansa is touched by this detail and feels more intimately connected to his wife than he's felt in a long time. But he never goes back into the house. Instead, he heads to Hans Olsa and visits his old friend one last time before venturing out.
Resolution (Denouement)
The story flashes forward to the spring after Per Hansa went into the blizzard to look for the minister. We find Hansa lying back against a pile of hay. He's been dead (from hypothermia) for a few months now. It looks like he never made it back after leaving his house the past winter. Not sure what to make of this? Check out our "What's with the Ending?" section for further analysis.