Final answer:
The provided text excerpts do not contain information about Jonas or the House of the Old, and without context, it's not possible to provide an accurate answer.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks about the role given to Jonas in the House of the Old within the context of a literary piece. Unfortunately, the provided text excerpts do not contain any information about the character Jonas or his activities at the House of the Old. It seems that there has been a mix-up as none of the excerpts reflect the events or characters from the novel 'The Giver' by Lois Lowry, where Jonas is the main character. Instead, the passages provided discuss various different characters and scenarios that do not appear to be related to the question's subject matter.
Therefore, without the appropriate context or source material, I cannot provide a factual and accurate answer to the student's query about Jonas's role at the House of the Old.