Read the story slowly, paragraph by paragraph. Each time an event occurs that moves the characters forward in some way -- either moving them to a new place or to have a new conversation or experience -- draw brackets around the passage.
Number each passage you have bracketed. This will help you create a timeline of the story's plot.
On a sheet of paper, number and list the events of the story, from the beginning all the way to the end. This will comprise a plot outline, which will tell you the exact plot of the story, without switching focus to theme, setting or symbols.